


Humble Beginnings

by MissOh



Series: Sheep Among Wolves [2]
Category: DEAN (Korean Musician), EXO, EXO (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Angst, Bullying, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied Sexual Content, Just spicy at times, Kim Jongdae | Chen is a Little Shit, Kim Jongin | Kai & Oh Sehun Friendship, M/M, Mafia AU, Mild Language, Minor Kim Joonmyun | Suho/Zhang Yi Xing | Lay, Minor Violence, No Smut, OT12 - Freeform, Oh Sehun is a Little Shit, Park Chanyeol Being an Asshole, References to Abuse, References to Drugs, Sassy Kim Jongdae | Chen, Some Fluff, Sorry Not Sorry, Strippers & Strip Clubs, Whiny Kim Jongdae | Chen, relationships, some SeChen, sometimes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2018-12-23 00:52:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 40,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11978667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissOh/pseuds/MissOh
Summary: How did a young man manage to conquer an entire city overnight?This work takes place before the events of the first part in the "Sheep Among Wolves" series.If you have not read the first part, there are spoilers within this work.





	1. The Kingpin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/151410050@N07/37215853185/in/dateposted-public/)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, these first few chapters are going to be real short. It'll be like that until pieces begin to come together. But, to make up for that, I'll post two chapters at a time when they're short like this.

Being raised by a single parent was never easy. Shit, it must be harder on the parent. Kris could see that with his mother from about the age of nine. She was always tired from working two jobs just to keep their meager apartment and be able to feed them both. Unfortunately, it couldn’t cover all their costs. Health insurance was out of the question. Many people always wondered why Kris’s mother didn’t simply try and get child support from Kris’s father, but truth be told his father wasn’t even listed on his birth certificate. Once his mother found out she was pregnant she cut him out of her life and moved as far away from him as she could. Many would do the same to protect their baby’s life from a violent man. She risked her life to get away and now she was risking her life to support Kris.

His mother was sick, it wasn’t anything that _should_ be life threatening. But, complications were more likely if she did not get on the medication she needed. She couldn’t afford that, so she went without and silently suffered so her baby boy would have a roof over his head and food in his belly. 

The older Kris got, the more he began to worry about his mother. At the young age of fourteen he finally put his foot down one evening when she caught a fever. “I’m the man of the house!” He declared as he tried to get his mother to rest. “I’m going to get a job after school. I will help take care of you. I don’t want you to be sick and tired all the time.” He told her, bringing tears to her eyes. 

“I love you, ma. I’d do anything for you.”

Kris meant that with every fiber in his being. 

True to his word, he went job hunting and took the first job that would let someone as young as him on. The extra cash, even at minimum wage, did make a difference. He was able to help take some of the burden off his mother and pay for some of the bills or for groceries. But, it still wasn’t enough for her to get medical help. 

Desperation paved way for less.. Legal methods of earning money.

If you ran with the wrong crowd in school, which Kris did, then you’d figure out who to go to for drugs. If you did that, then you could figure out how to get into that business. Kris was determined to only sell pot. It wouldn’t destroy people’s lives, right? So, he went with that.

The amount of money it brought in was amazing. Kris was able to quit his shitty part time job while still making enough money to be able to afford to take his mother to the doctor finally. She finally got on the medication she needed and Kris could see a drastic change in her health. The woman smiled more and was happy again. Eventually, Kris began to make enough money for his mother to quit one of her two jobs. Finally, she didn’t seem to be stressed anymore. Sure, she questioned how he was making much more than she ever made. But, he assured her that it was just that he was very good at what he did, so he kept getting raises so that he’d stay at his current job.

It was a half lie. He _was_ very good at what he did. He knew he wasn’t all that intimidating, considering he was so young and his voice still occasionally cracked. But, he was fast on his feet if things even remotely looked like they were heading south. There’s been several instances where he’s taken off mid-deal and cut through alleyways and backyards simply because he could tell when someone was lying to him or if they just seemed off, which was enough for him to bolt.

Unfortunately, the problem with this kind of business is that you are going to get caught at some point. 

He was sixteen years old when he had his first run in with the cops. 

As always, he could tell when the conversation was going south. The guys looking to buy were asking too many questions, so he hightailed it out of there. The moment he did he heard the sirens. He ran as fast as he could and took as many turns as he possibly could to avoid getting caught. When he tried to dart across one of the streets and into another alleyway in an attempt to lose them, he ran right out in front of a cop car. Kris reacted pretty quickly and threw himself up on the hood, tucking himself into a ball as he did so. He shattered the car’s window and rolled off the hood and onto the street. He was bruised and bloodied, but not seriously injured. 

Before he could get up and run he was grabbed and forced to stay on the ground as a pair of cuffs went around both wrists. He was taken to the station and did not say a word the entire time. He didn’t have any form of ID on him. So.. The cops couldn’t call his mother. That was why he was staying silent. He’d rather sit in jail before she found out about how he could afford to take care of her. 

Unfortunately when he was only an hour late his mother went into a panic and called the local hospitals. Then she started calling the stations. She was able to give the cops a description that fit Kris to the letter. So, then she was called in. Once she arrived a cop intercepted her and told her why Kris was at the station. 

Kris would never forget the disappointment on her face when she looked around the station and found him sitting handcuffed in a chair. The cops moved them to a separate room to have five minutes of privacy. Kris began to apologize repeatedly, trying to explain that this was the only way he could provide for her right now. She didn’t say a word. She hugged him instead, leading the boy that never cried to cry. 

She made him promise to never sell drugs again and he did.

There was a knock on the door to the room they were in. Kris figured the cops officially filed their charges. But, instead of a man in uniform an older man in a suit walked in. “Excuse me, miss.. If you wouldn’t mind if I get some time alone with the boy.” His mother was obviously confused, but she figured he was connected to the police so she stepped out of the room.

“Kris is it?” Kris nodded as he warily watched the man. “I don’t know if you noticed me. But, I’ve been here on business the entire time you’ve been here. I watched the way you did not ever say a single word to the cops.. That takes stones, kid. How old are you anyways?”

Kris was hesitant to respond, but finally he gave in since he didn’t figure it’d hurt at this point. “Sixteen.”  
“Wow. Sixteen. Why’d you do it, then?”  
“My mom.. She’s sick and it’s hard to make money with honest work.”  
“Can’t your father take care of her?”  
“ _I’m_ the man of the house.” Kris spat back harshly earning a light chuckle from the graying man.  
“I can see that now. Look. I’ll make you a deal, kid. I have connections. I can get them to drop all of the charges. Make you get off with a warning. But, I need people like you. People who won’t talk to the cops and know how to do exactly what you got caught for. I’ll pay you better than you ever have been paid before and I’ll make sure your mother thinks I’m just a kind entrepreneur that pitied you and gave you an honest job. What do you say?”

Kris was floored. It sounded too good to be true, sure. But, he _needed_ this. “Okay. Yeah. I’m game.” He agreed after a few moments, afraid that the offer was a limited time thing.

Sure enough, after a few words with the police chief, the charges were dropped. Then the man spoke with his mother, true to his word he told her he held sympathy for her son and was offering him an honest job as a means of redemption for him, and also a means for her to be able to get the health care she deserves. 

Immediately Kris found himself deeper in the criminal underworld than he ever intended on going. But, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, isn’t it?

He was selling harder drugs for the mob that ran the city. He hated the work so much. He hated the people he worked for even more. Sure, he got a fat stack of cash every night and could take care of his mother, but he felt.. Dirty. This family took advantage of the poor, much like they took advantage of Kris. They also take advantage of the homeless, the sick, and those doing what they can just to make a buck in this city. 

At the age of eighteen, Kris decided it was time for change. The family was so lazy since they did not have any competition. They also trusted Kris so much. It’d be so easy to stage a coup.. 

All he needed were the right people. 

Slowly, Kris found people that were very skilled. All it took was himself and four other individuals and Kris was able to make his move. 

The home of the mafia that ran this town was burnt to the ground in one night and everyone inside of it was effortlessly killed. Not by the fire, of course.

That’s when Kris took power. People could see the ruthlessness in his eyes, but at the same time he went out of his way to help those that were considered the “unfortunate.” So, he gained followers among the unfortunate very easily. Those who were more fortunate were able to respect what he was doing, usually because he was an effective ruler. 

So, at the young age of nineteen Kris became a kingpin, pretty much over night. 

His mother of course didn’t have a single idea about it. But, she did notice that after Kris became a kingpin that his gaze, when he thought she wasn’t looking, was so much like his father’s. It scared her. She was ashamed to say she was scared of her son, but he was so big now and that cold look in his eyes was a familiar ghost of her past that she never wanted to see in Kris.

Kris would never harm his mother though. In fact he went out of his way to make sure she’d be safe. After a lot of urging he was able to move her away from the city, placing her in an area that was closer to the ocean. His excuse was that there was a medical facility there that could really help her health for good. But, he couldn’t go with her since he needed to stay behind and work so he could afford to cover her medical expenses. 

He does visit her often, even to this day. He’d take a weekend out every month to go visit her. 

But, with his only weakness out of the city.. Kris was able to reign unchecked, slowly absorbing almost the entire city. There were a few outlier families that he tolerated, namely because they respected him and did not try and even step into his territory. 

Kris’s family grew over the time, three more effective individuals soon joining him. That wasn’t counting the many associates and soldiers Kris had at his disposal. 

In almost no time, Kris Wu created an empire.


	2. The Underboss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/151410050@N07/37043670422/in/dateposted-public/)

Fear was a constant for Minseok as a child. Everyday he heard yelling and screaming at his home, that was on good days. So, everyday he wondered if things would turn physical. School was no refuge for the boy. It was easy for the quiet kid to be bullied by those who assumed he couldn’t fight back. But, they were right. He couldn’t. Or maybe he didn’t know he could. 

This was little Minseok’s life. Nothing changed until he was about fourteen. 

One day when he was curled into a ball on the playground with his tormentors surrounding him someone stepped in for the first time in his life. Suddenly, one of the boys was pulled away from him and the others stopped to see what the hell was going on. Minseok didn’t uncover his eyes in fear of it being some kind of ploy to get him to let his guard down. 

“Leave him alone.” There was a voice, it wasn’t raised but it still sounded like a command. But, it certainly was not an adult voice.

“Or what?”

There was the sound of a scoff as knuckles cracked. Then there was this horrific crunching sound that made Minseok shrink into his fetal position even further. One of the boys actually began to cry shortly after that crunching sound. It was then that Minseok peeked out from under one of his arms that was defensively covering his face. The boy that was crying was covering his nose with his hand as blood was running down his chin.

“Do you want me to break something else?” The unknown voice spoke up once again, still sounding so calm. It was so unnerving that Minseok slammed his eyes shut. 

There was a bunch of whispering around Minseok before he heard a “he’s not worth it,” and then the sounds of people walking away. Minseok continued to lay there for a long while before he finally felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped and tried to shrink himself even further.

“Hey, hey. Relax. I’m not going to hurt you.” The voice wasn’t kind or soft, but it was calm. Although, it was strangely smooth. It was enough for Minseok to slowly pull his arms off of his head and open his eyes to find a dark haired stranger looking down at him. 

“Come on, get on up.” He said as he stood back up and extended a larger hand down to Minseok. Very slowly Minseok uncurled and took the hand, realizing his knuckles were bloodied from earlier. But, he still allowed the stranger to pull him off the ground and onto his shaky feet.

The stranger was tall. _How old is he?_ Minseok wondered as his arms defensively wrapped around his midsection. 

“Are you okay?” The stranger asked and Minseok slowly nodded, refusing to meet the dark eyes.  
“I-” His voice cracked, but he didn’t clear his throat in an attempt to fix it. “I’m used to it.” Minseok wasn’t used to someone checking on his wellbeing. 

The stranger was frowning as he looked down at him. “Well, my name is Kris. No one is going to touch you now. Otherwise they’ll get a broken nose like that one punk.” 

Minseok blinked as he finally looked to meet the stranger's gaze, unsure if he heard him correctly. He was suspicious of his motivations, most certainly. “Why..?”  
“We’re friends now.”

Minseok’s face wrinkled up in confusion as he gave Kris a suspicious once over. “But, why?”  
“ _Aish_ , can’t you just accept it?” Kris responded with a sigh. 

Was this how someone made friends?

Minseok wasn’t sure, so he gave a hesitant nod. 

“Okay,” Kris started with a very minute smile. “What’s your name?”  
“.. Minseok.” 

“Alright, Minseok. You’re my friend now, so you need to stick by me. Okay?” The boy told him and Minseok held his breath as he looked up at him. He was so very wary of this man and he seemed to sense that. But, he still looked at him expectantly. 

“Okay.” Minseok agreed, only because Kris would be the first _real_ friend he’s ever had. It was scary though. He was afraid this was some ploy, some way to hurt Minseok in the future. 

\-------

Two months passed. _Finally_ , school was a breath of fresh air for Minseok. It was all because of Kris. The two didn’t talk too much, which was nice. It seemed like the pair knew how to enjoy the silence together and it was great for Minseok to not feel pressured to say much. 

“Minseok?”  
“Hmm?” 

Minseok looked up from the sandwich he was eating during their lunch when Kris spoke up. “What are you doing during the summer?” Minseok’s expression fell at the question and he quickly looked at his lunch tray. He dreaded summer now that school was a place of relief for him. 

“Ah, I’ll be home. Unless my parents let me get a summer job..” He answered after a while. He was hopeful that he could get a job. Maybe he could actually start putting money away to save up for when he could finally leave home. But, really work would be another escape from home.

“Why don’t you spend some time over at my home this summer?” Kris asked, causing Minseok to look up at him in surprise. He figured Kris could pick up on his bad home life at this point. So, another escape seemed refreshing. But.. That was all if he’d even be able to get the okay to go over to Kris’s. 

“I’d like that.” Kris smirked at Minseok’s response before he went back to eating. 

\---

Summer came and Minseok was particularly blessed. Not only did his parents allow him to get a part time job, they also really didn’t seem to care about him pretty much spending as much time as possible at Kris’s apartment. He was really scared to meet Kris’s mother though. But, when he met the small woman he couldn’t be more surprised. She was so sweet and practically adopted him that day. 

Minseok finally could understand what a family was supposed to look like.. Even if the circumstances around the Wu family was a little strange. There was only one parent, who was pretty frail in health, and Kris sold pot on the side to help his mom out, not that she knew that. But, it was still nice to be around. 

\---

When school started back there was a definite difference in Minseok’s behavior. He was still quiet, but he was more confident in himself. Part of that came from being in a loving environment over the summer. But, part of it was also because Kris talked Minseok into working out more. Kris was surprised that Minseok fell in love with it, putting on a bit of muscle already. But, Kris wanted to make sure Minseok could be able to stand up for himself should he need to. 

Sure enough, Minseok did not let anyone to push him around anymore. If someone pushed him, he’d push back. He’d eventually even go on to make another friend on his own. 

\--

A couple years later when Minseok was sixteen his parents started to finally leave him alone. But, he just hit a growth spurt, even if he still wasn’t too tall. That and the added muscle on him was enough to get them to back off. Well, the colder gaze that Minseok has adapted probably helped as well. The same went for school though, he no longer worried about bullies. 

In a plot twist no one expected.. Minseok has become quite the flirt in the school. But, strangely enough he never got into a relationship. Yet, he’d still flirt anytime he found someone attractive. Most of his flirtations were only facial expressions; winks, biting his lip, or eyebrow raises. It worked for him though, flustering boys and girls alike. 

\---

At the age of seventeen Minseok was a radically different person than he was when he first met Kris. In fact, one night he brought it up with Kris while he was staying at his apartment one night, as he usually did.

“Kris.”  
“Hmm?”  
“I’ve been thinking.. Is it weird to want to change your name?”  
“What?”  
“I mean.. I’m sure when you think of Minseok you picture that boy that was getting beat senseless on the ground. I don’t want to be tied to that anymore.”  
“Okay.. I mean. You do you, man. If you want to change your name, sure.”

That was when he became “Xiumin.”

He also was often with Kris as back up when he was pushing harder drugs on the streets. This meant he learned how to use a gun. 

Things only escalated further when he was twenty. Kris often expressed his frustrations to Xiumin about the family that was running the city. He understood. The weaker and poorer were getting bullied into submission. That wasn’t really something he enjoyed getting to see. So, when Kris gathered a small, but reliable, team of people Xiumin joined him in his coup.

After the success Xiumin was named Kris’s second in command. Now Xiumin found himself in a position of power and he actually enjoyed it. Sure, Kris was born to rule the way he does. But, Xiumin was _made_ for it. It didn’t come naturally, but he knew how to command respect now. 

He was someone to be feared and no longer someone that was fearful.


	3. The Advisor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/151410050@N07/37073319731/in/dateposted-public/)

There wasn’t anything truly unusual about Junmyeon’s home life. Sure, his family wasn’t well off financially. But, they still managed pretty well. Yet, Junmyeon still got in trouble at school quite often. Namely because he was always an outspoken child. He never really lied, which was part of the problem. It led to him often getting into fights or getting sent to the principal’s office. 

So, the boy learned how to defend himself at least and he obtained a foolish resolve to voice his mind and speak out if he believed someone was wrong. Unfortunately, the thing about always being brutally honest was that it made it terribly hard to make friends. So, Junmyeon was often alone as a child. He realized that even though people said that they’d rather hear the truth, they really did not like hearing it. 

But, that did eventually change for him. One day when he was around fifteen he made a friend in one of his classes. The boy, Minseok, was typically quiet, but Junmyeon didn’t mind. He enjoyed his company. Minseok did not mind his blunt words, in fact he seemed to appreciate him. He appreciated that he could rely on Junmyeon to be honest with him regardless of the situation. 

However, when Junmyeon met Kris the two immediately butted heads. Minseok assumed that the two would get along, but he was so wrong. Kris loathed Junmyeon’s rude mouth. The only reason why they never came to blows was out of respect for Minseok. But, because of Minseok they were also around each other quite often. Eventually, they managed to tolerate each other.

One day while Junmyeon and Kris were waiting on Minseok after school Kris finally broke the silence that was always between them. 

“I don’t like you, you know.”  
“Yeah, I know. Not many people do.” Junmyeon shrugged with that stoic expression he typically wore around everyone.  
“But,”  
“Oh ho, there’s a but now?” Junmyeon asked with a slight chuckle as he looked up to Kris with an eyebrow raised. Kris rolled his eyes in response, but he ignored Junmyeon’s interruption and continued.  
“I respect that you’re honest, even when it could get you into some deep shit. You’re also loyal to Minseok. I respect that.” Kris surprised Junmyeon and it showed on his face as he gawked up at Kris. “The world could use more people like you.”

“Wow.” Junmyeon muttered as he looked away. For the first time he wasn’t sure what to say. “Thank you.” He said under his breath as he kicked at some of the dirt at his feet.  
“Yeah, sure. We good?” Kris asked as he extended a hand out to Junmyeon, asking for a truce.  
“We’re good.” Junmyeon nodded as he shook Kris’s hand.

\----

Kris and Junmyeon grew to actually enjoy each other’s presence more. Kris came to understand why Minseok appreciated Junmyeon’s honesty more. Especially when Kris was getting dragged deeper and deeper into the criminal underworld, and dragging his two friends down with him.

Minseok took on a different name and Junmyeon found himself thinking of new name for himself. It was mostly so he could avoid attachments to his family, that way maybe he could keep them safe. So, he took on the name Suho.

Suho adapted to the criminal world well and he and Kris became closer and closer. Kris was always coming to him for his opinion because he always gave him exactly that. Between Xiumin and Kris, Suho seemed to keep his hands clean better than the other two though. He did not get involved in much violence, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t blood on his hands. He still defended his friends should he have to, never hesitating to pull a trigger or throw a punch. He wasn’t afraid to give his life for them should it come to that. 

When he turned eighteen he moved out and cut all ties with his family. It was a painful thing for him to do, but the last thing he wanted was for them to get hurt. Especially considering he knew Kris’s plans that were coming. So, Suho made a choice. He picked between his blood family, or the family he came to have between Kris and Xiumin. Many would say he picked wrong, some nights he felt like he picked wrong. But, he loved the two like brothers and would do whatever he needed to to keep them safe. Not to mention that Kris needed him.

He refused to leave them behind. 

\---

The violence only got more and more intense. Kris overthrew the family that previously ran the city, with Suho by his side. They all did things that Suho didn’t think they were capable of that night. So, naturally Kris named Suho his advisor when he was nineteen and he respectfully took that title.

There were some nights that Suho would look in the mirror and be afraid of what he saw looking back at him. He wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. He might have been a bit of a troublemaker before, but never violent unless he was defending himself. Now he wouldn’t hesitate to take another’s life. It was terrifying, quite frankly. 

But, Suho would do anything to protect his family. 

So, he sucked it up. He ignored the fear of himself. The family grew and each time Suho would essentially adopt the newest member, adding them to the list of people he would die for. Not only would he die for them, he’d live for them. He’d live the life of a cold blooded killer should he need to. 

Yet, Suho still held everyone at a distance. It was for the best. He would love everyone as family, and that was it. No one ever saw him even have a fling with another person. The last thing he wanted was for someone to get involved with him in that way and then get hurt. People in this life typically had a shorter lifespan. He refused to risk that pain and he refused to leave someone behind should he fall victim to a violent death. So, he focused on his work. 

Suho became a workaholic. He never sat back and enjoyed a drink with anyone. Which, many found strange. But, everyone was strange in their own way. So, they let him be. It benefited Kris in the long run, however. Because of Suho’s hard work he managed to take over almost the entire city within a year of his takeover.


	4. The Enforcer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/151410050@N07/37215853825/in/dateposted-public/)

Chanyeol was an ornery child from the start.

The boy constantly picked fights everywhere he went. His most used excuse back then was “they looked at me wrong.” His parents grew up just as rough as Chanyeol, so they didn’t exactly see a problem with their child. Either that or they didn’t want to see the problem with their child. Namely because Chanyeol didn’t hurt _everyone_. Only those that gave him dirty looks or bothered him.

But, that was only when he was younger. 

About the time he was fifteen he got more and more aggressive. It didn’t help that he was getting bigger as well. He took his violence to the streets. But, he tried to keep a hold on himself. So, he targeted those that “deserved it.” Drug dealers, muggers, pimps, you name it. They’d typically get beat within an inch of their life if Chanyeol knew he could get away with it. He knew to avoid the fights he couldn’t win.

He was so young, but he was such a threat to even adults. At first the only weapons he possessed was a knife, brass knuckles, and a baseball bat. But, that bat did so much damage on its own. It would always be one of Chanyeol favorite weapons. Eventually he managed to take a pistol from a mugger he blindsided. After some practice he became quite good with it. 

It only got worse when he was sixteen. In fact, he came onto someone’s radar one day.

One night he was in an alleyway cracking bones with his baseball bat when people came into the alley. When Chanyeol finally noticed them in his peripherals he stopped beating on the man that he caught attempting to assault a woman. Immediately he only held the bat with one hand while he pulled a pistol with his other hand and aimed at the three that came into the alleyway.

There was one man that looked younger than Chanyeol did that pulled a pistol as well and aimed it right at Chanyeol. “Easy..” The tall stranger said and Chanyeol tried to figure out how bad of a situation he was in right now.

“This doesn’t concern you.” He growled, sounding intimidating despite his age.  
“You’re right. I really don’t give a damn about what led to this.” The man spoke again earning a confused look from Chanyeol. “My name is Kris.” He introduced himself as he stepped forward. Chanyeol cocked the gun in response to him moving closer.

“I’d like to get to know you.”  
“What the hell are you on about?” Chanyeol asked over the broken groans of the man he was just beating on.  
“Let me be upfront. I’m going to take this city over. But, to do it I need help. We’ve been watching you and listen, man.. You’re the kind of mean I need.” 

Chanyeol’s face crinkled up at the offer, unsure if he should be flattered or offended. But.. It was an interesting offer. So, he nodded and put the gun away. “Give me a moment.” Chanyeol said just loud enough for this “Kris” to hear him before he took hold of the bat with both hands again. 

He broke another of the man’s bones before he walked towards Kris, gesturing for them all to leave the alleyway. Blood covered the bat, but it was funny how few people actually cared in this neighborhood. Everyone looked the other way. Especially at this time of night.

\-----

Kris explained his plans to Chanyeol and he couldn’t help but to respect what the man was doing. He was also so very interested in being apart of it. The way Kris explained Chanyeol’s role just led him to believing he’d get to run unchecked and get paid for it. He knew he’d be Kris’s attack dog, but truthfully he didn’t mind that. So, he agreed and signed on for Kris. 

He was only seventeen when he helped Kris take over the city. He’s never felt such a rush in a single night before. Granted, he was bruised and bloodied, much like the rest of them. But, they all survived and conquered the city. 

Chanyeol actually got a higher rank than he expected to get. Kris named him his first capo. Not only that but Chanyeol became Kris’s enforcer. If anyone messed with him or made the smallest slight against him, Chanyeol was sent in and the problem would quickly get taken care of.

He loved his life living in the mob. Sure, he got hurt a lot and he knew he’d die early. But, he didn’t mind. He got to live like a king while still being as violent as he always has been. Not to mention there were… Extra perks of this arrangement that Chanyeol could have never predicted, but he did not take for granted. 

Chanyeol decided that this life was good for him.


	5. The Arsonist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/151410050@N07/37215855075/in/dateposted-public/)

Baekhyun was born to a good middle class family. He was an average child in almost every way, he didn’t have trouble making friends and he did pretty well in school. There was only one _real_ problem that Baekhyun suffered.

Even as a young child he could watch a candle burn for far too long. He was amazed by fire, as many are, but he took it to another level. There were countless times he’s burnt his hands because he’d zone out and reach for the little flame. But, soon he became strangely used to the burning sensation, at least where little candle flames were concerned. 

It became a genuine problem when his childhood home was burnt to the ground. Baekhyun didn’t have any real reason to start the fire. But, at the same time the level of destruction wasn’t intentional. The fire got out of control and next thing he knew he was outside watching his home burn down. He would never forget the heat from the flames and the way it lit up the neighborhood that evening.

As a teenager the problem worsened. Any old building he could find would get torched to the ground. He even made the news. The cops didn’t know it was him, but apparently there was a local arsonist on the move. Baekhyun decided he liked the sound of that.

One night when he was eighteen he was picking the lock to some abandoned building to burn it to the ground. All he needed were bobby pins and paperclips and he could open almost any lock, especially old ones. He hummed as he unlocked the door and stood up. He pushed the door open, causing it to make a rather ominous groaning sound. But, he still picked up the two canisters he brought with him and carried on inside humming his cheery tune. 

The old wooden floors groaned under his feet, but he still didn’t seem to mind. He has grown accustomed to this after all. He sat one of the canisters down close to the front door as he moved deeper into the old home, unscrewing the lid to it as he went. The familiar smell of gasoline managed to immediately give him the goosebumps he’s grown accustomed to. 

He stopped at the back of the building and was about to start pouring the accelerant when he heard the wooden floors groan. 

Baekhyun wasn’t moving.

He quickly turned around to find a tall man standing in the doorway behind him. _Shit._ “You know how many decrepit places we have been staking out just to wait for you to show up?” The tall stranger asked with a far too serious expression on his face. 

Baekhyun remained silent for once in his life, namely because he’s never been caught before. 

“Counting this one? Four.” The man answered himself and Baekhyun raised his eyebrows.  
“You’re police then?” Baekhyun asked since the stranger didn’t seem like a cop at all. In fact his face seemed young. But, why else would they stake out a place to catch an arsonist?

The stranger laughed at his question. “No, but someone would like to borrow your talent.”  
“What..?” Baekhyun blinked, extremely confused by this.  
Those long legs crossed the room and stopped in front of Baekhyun as a hand extended out to him. 

“I’m Chanyeol. A man that I work for is looking to overthrow a kingdom, essentially. And he’d like to make a show out of it.” 

Baekhyun’s face wrinkled up some as he judged the man’s large hand before he looked back up at him. After a long moment he finally took Chanyeol’s hand and shook it, “Baekhyun.” He said before he looked back down at the canister in his hands. “Whelp. If you’re giving me a job offer help me out with this place then I wanna meet the man you’re working for!” He said before he pointed the confused Chanyeol back into the main area when the other canister was at.

When Baekhyun was done dosing the back half of the building he went back to the main area to find Chanyeol stumbling as he poured the gasoline. It was then that Baekhyun saw him for the first time, without the fear filter on. “Oh my God. You’re all legs. How old are you even??”

“What?”  
“You’re awkward and tall! How old are you?” Baekhyun acted as if that was enough to justify his question. Chanyeol stood up a bit straighter, giving him some more height that was really unnecessary.  
“I’m almost seventeen.”  
“Dear Lord.” Baekhyun groaned as he took the gas canister from Chanyeol’s hands.

“What?! how old are you?”  
“I’m eighteen.”  
“So, we’re basically the same age.”  
“Uh, no. I don’t think so. Despite your height you’re still a gremlin.” Baekhyun waved Chanyeol off as he finished the job the “man” was supposed to do himself. He couldn’t see the utterly offended expression on Chanyeol’s face. 

“Can’t believe they’re letting a kid into this world..” Baekhyun muttered, as if he wasn’t a kid himself. He was too focused on his “art” to see Chanyeol’s eyes roll.

Eventually the old building was up in flames, much to Baekhyun’s satisfaction. He took a long few moments to stand on the sidewalk, watching the building burn with his new.. Friend? Business partner? Who really knew at this point?

\----

“Okay, so you want me to torch the mansion after everyone is dead?  
“Yes.” The man that was introduced as Kris responded simply.  
“Alright. That’s easy enough.” Baekhyun replied with a shrug.  
“Do you know how to use a gun?” Suho asked with a straight face.  
“What?” Baekhyun asked with surprise written on his face.  
“Can you shoot a gun?” Xiumin asked with a hint of irritation in his voice.

“I’ve never handled a gun before, why..?” Baekhyun went on an immediately groans filled the room. “I don’t see why I should know how. That’s not my job.”  
“Oh, no. You’re helping us take the place over.” Kris quickly replied with a short chuckle before looking over to Chanyeol. “You’re good with a gun. You teach him how to use one.” Kris waved off and Chanyeol’s expression betrayed his age.

“Are you serious?” Chanyeol asked, looking like a child that just got told they couldn’t have any ice cream. Baekhyun couldn’t help but to snicker at that.  
“You signed up to help me, not argue with me. I’d do well to remember that if I were you.” Kris was quick to respond and shoot Chanyeol a warning look, immediately silencing him and returning him to that brooding expression. 

“Okay.. Well, I guess I can help out? Uhm.. Just don’t let me die. Then I can’t torch the place. Deal?” Baekhyun wasn’t sure how he felt about being on the “front lines” so to speak. But, the offer Kris made him earlier was just _too_ good to turn down.  
“Deal.”

\-----

“Do you know how these things work?” Chanyeol asked the first evening the pair were out practicing outside the city. The taller was passing a pistol to Baekhyun as the older rolled his eyes.  
“Of course I understand how a gun works.”  
“Okay. Explain it to me.”  
“You pull the trigger and someone typically dies.”

Chanyeol groaned as he rubbed his forehead before he stepped into Baekhyun’s personal space. “Look, treat every gun like its loaded. Which, this one is. Double check the safety on it at all times. Don’t put your finger on the trigger unless you’re prepared to shoot and do not aim a gun at someone unless you’re prepared to kill. Got it?” Chanyeol ran through what he thought was the basics even as Baekhyun was nodding through it all.  
“Yes, yes, yes. I got it, Pa!” Baekhyun muttered as he looked over the pistol in his hand for a long silent moment. 

“... Where’s the safety?”  
“Oh, dear Lord.”

Chanyeol showed him where the safety was and then showed him how to properly hold the weapon. Baekhyun was internally complaining most of the time, but he remained silent to try and absorb the information that Chanyeol was teaching him.

It felt weird learning from someone that was younger than him, especially considering it was about taking lives.

They went practice shooting every weekend until the takeover. Baekhyun became a rather decent shot in this time period. But, that could easily change under pressure. Chanyeol tried to test Baekhyun as much as he could, by forcing him to move while shooting at the targets and also yelling at him as if he were a drill sergeant while Baekhyun was shooting to add the stress and pressure onto him. 

Baekhyun was still going to undergo a trial by fire essentially. 

\-----

The takeover was ultimately successful. Baekhyun wasn’t the best shot and he spent plenty of time hiding behind cover, but he did watch the way Chanyeol would recklessly charge into the fights head first. It was then that he gained an admiration for the gremlin. He was brave, or stupid. But, it was inspiring for Baekhyun and he tried to force himself to take some risks that night, as much as he thought he could afford anyways.

But, his time to shine was when he got to torch the building. The fear and the adrenaline that threatened to freeze him turned into exhilaration as he was practically leaping and bounding through the mansion. 

Later when the five were standing across the street and watching the building burn for as long as they could Baekhyun soaked in the warmth of it. It was the biggest fire he’s ever created and he was so proud of his work. 

Not only that he was rewarded handsomely for it. 

Kris offered Baekhyun a place in his new family as a soldier, and Baekhyun figured he’d be dumb to ignore the offer. So, he took him up on it.

\-----

As time passed things changed. Everyone became a bit more serious as murder and assaults became commonplace with them to keep their newfound hold on the city. The inner circle of the family grew in size, but Baekhyun didn’t mind the extra company. 

Although, he still found himself spending his time around Chanyeol.

Chanyeol changed the most in Baekhyun’s mind. He was no longer that pouty gremlin from before. When he turned twenty he was far from that boy Baekhyun first met. He was rather ruggedly handsome, if Baekhyun was forced to admit it. His shoulders became broader as he gained muscle instead of remaining lanky and awkward. His jawline became just as sharp as his expression could be.

Maybe Baekhyun didn’t mind being around the young man anymore because of who he’s become. 

Maybe it was also because he was the only one that knew how Chanyeol could be the night before a big fight. 

It was strange to Baekhyun, everyone could practically see the testosterone levels rise in Chanyeol the night before a fight. He’d be much more hot tempered and likely to snap at someone, if not start a fight. So, people left him alone. But, they didn’t see the fact that he could get rather self destructive before a fight. 

Baekhyun was typically nervous the night before a raid. They’ve seen things go bad before, but they’ve always managed to come out on top in the long run. Either way, he was pacing the mansion one evening. He found his feet carrying him to Chanyeol’s office. He didn’t know why, maybe he wanted to marvel at the weapons in there. Or maybe it was as simple as a force of habit. 

Chanyeol surprised him by being in there, staring at a whiskey bottle with an empty expression. He glanced up at Baekhyun before looking back at the bottle. “Whoa.. You okay?”  
“Can’t sleep.” The man muttered as his fingers drummed on his desk that he was leaning on, looking exhausted. 

Baekhyun hesitantly shut the door and took a seat across from Chanyeol as he took the whiskey bottle to get a drink from it. “Me neither.” He admitted as Chanyeol watched him intently. The way his eyes followed his every move made him nervous. So, he quickly took a drink of the whiskey, shaking his head after it went down his throat with a definite fire going down to his stomach. “Wow, that’s strong.” He muttered after a weak cough.

Chanyeol didn’t respond. He only watched Baekhyun. Once Baekhyun sat the bottle back on the desk Chanyeol didn’t go back to staring at the bottle. No, his eyes remained on Baekhyun. It made Baekhyun shift in his seat nervously.

“Alright, what is it?” Baekhyun finally asked, uncomfortable with the silence in the room.  
“I’ve been thinking.”  
“Oh, that certainly answers my question.” Baekhyun groaned as he scratched his arm under one of the sleeves of his white T-shirt. He probably shouldn’t be so sharp with Chanyeol, considering how easy it was to get him to snap on a night like this. But, he didn’t exactly consider that in this moment.  
“What am I to you?”

Baekhyun froze. He swore his heart even stopped beating.

“I.. I don’t understand.” He managed to get out before swallowing hard.  
“Do you still see me as that ‘gremlin’ you first met?” Chanyeol sat up straight before leaning back in his chair, making his Adam's apple more prominent, one hand was holding the lid to the whiskey bottle as he played with it in his large hand. Baekhyun paled at how much he looked like a man right now. Especially considering the way the sleeveless black shirt he was wearing showed off his biceps. 

Perhaps it was a mistake to come here tonight.

“No.”

A smirk appeared on Chanyeol’s face, he appeared to be pleased at the answer. Baekhyun wasn’t too sure of what would come next. It made him nervous.

“How much have you had to drink?” Baekhyun finally asked the question that has been on his mind. Chanyeol rolled his eyes, but still answered him.  
“Only about half of that glass.” He pointed to the whiskey glass on the desk. Baekhyun figured Chanyeol was probably feeling good at the moment, but not beyond rational thought. Well, that was reassuring at least. 

But, what now?

Baekhyun was struggling to hold Chanyeol’s gaze as his eyes were darkened, typically only how they were when he was in a firefight. “I’m going to give you an option, Baekhyun. Come over here, or leave me be for the night.”

Baekhyun’s heart threatened to give up on him completely as his eyes widened. Chanyeol was so serious looking, and Baekhyun could only guess his intentions. Although.. It was a pretty good guess. 

So, he pushed himself up from the chair with shaky hands as he walked around the desk to stand in front of Chanyeol. Despite his trembling hands an eyebrow dared to raise expectantly as Chanyeol straightened up in the chair for a moment before slowly rising to stand in front of Baekhyun, tossing the lid to the whiskey bottle on the desk. The two were only a meager foot apart from each other and Baekhyun felt so short next to him. 

A calloused hand reached out to cup Baekhyun’s cheek and Baekhyun flinched at the touch. He probably shouldn’t have. But, he was used to Chanyeol being more violent than usual on nights like these. When he opened eyes to look up Chanyeol the younger man was frowning. He could tell he hurt him, especially in the way Chanyeol’s hand was hesitant to fully cup Baekhyun’s cheek, so only his fingers were resting against his cheek.

“Are you afraid of me?”

Baekhyun internally winced at the question. He really screwed up just now. He knew that even if he said he wasn’t Chanyeol wasn’t likely to believe him now.

_Great._

Baekhyun let out a heavy breath as his eyes looked down in shame. But, he didn’t let silence hang in the air too long before he responded.

“Shut up and kiss me already.” Baekhyun muttered and he could hear the amused sound escape Chanyeol’s throat. He wasn’t looking up at Chanyeol, but he knew he wore that smirk on his face. 

_Finally,_ Chanyeol’s hand pressed against Baekhyun’s cheek completely, and the older just about made a point out of leaning into his touch. But, Chanyeol was slow as he leaned in, almost torturously so. He ever so slowly tilted Baekhyun’s head up so their lips could connect and Baekhyun was beginning to loathe the few seconds that Chanyeol was taking as it felt like an eternity. 

But, Chanyeol’s lips pressed against Baekhyun and he was surprisingly gentle. Almost as if he feared hurting Baekhyun. So, Baekhyun was the one to eventually tilt his head and invite Chanyeol to deepen the kiss. While Chanyeol took the opportunity, he was still so slow and stiff even. Then it dawned on Baekhyun. 

He was inexperienced. 

He didn’t have a single idea what the hell he was doing. 

Even through the kiss Baekhyun managed to find a way to smirk. 

Both of Baekhyun’s hands roughly cupped Chanyeol’s face, effectively holding him in place as Baekhyun quickly took charge of the kiss away from the younger. He could tell Chanyeol was shocked, but that didn’t keep Baekhyun from holding back any passion. Once he was certain that Chanyeol wasn’t going to move too much one of his hands abandoned his face to run along those biceps that were taunting him earlier. He felt the younger flex his muscles and it almost made him laugh in response. It was cute, really.

After Chanyeol finally seemed to grow comfortable with the kiss his hands went to Baekhyun’s waist. As if Baekhyun was a child, he managed to pick him up, causing Baekhyun to gasp and instinctively wrap his arms around Chanyeol’s neck for extra security should Chanyeol drop him. But, then he was promptly sat on the desk.

Baekhyun did not unwrap his arms from around Chanyeol’s neck, he just used them to pull Chanyeol until he was forced to lean against Baekhyun as his hands braced on either side of the older to keep the two from toppling back onto the desk completely. Once Baekhyun was certain the boy wasn’t going to move away one of arms abandoned his neck and snaked up his shirt, finally getting to feel his body and the muscles hidden underneath the shirt. Chanyeol growled into the kiss as he suddenly became more aggressive, like a switch had been flipped.

Chanyeol’s hands momentarily abandoned the desk and they went to remove the shirt from Baekhyun’s torso, causing them to break the kiss. Baekhyun took a moment to catch his breath before he started to lift Chanyeol’s shirt, and Chanyeol took the lead and removed it the rest of the way before tossing it to the side with Baekhyun’s shirt. Baekhyun only got a moment to take in Chanyeol’s figure before his lips attacked once more. But, instead they pressed against his neck, causing a breath to escape Baekhyun’s lips as his head tilted back to give him more access and his eyelids fluttered shut.

Chanyeol stuck to kissing Baekhyun’s neck for a few moments, before Baekhyun felt teeth brush across his skin, causing him to shudder. Chanyeol paused, as if he was unsure if he was allowed to continue. So, one of Baekhyun’s hands went to the back of Chanyeol’s head as his fingers intertwined with his soft hair. Chanyeol picked up on the encouragement as his lips traveled down to Baekhyun’s collarbone, full on nipping at it. 

The free hand of Baekhyun's ran up the strong back of the man that was leaning into him. For a moment he hoped the still open whiskey bottle wasn’t directly behind him as he allowed himself to start slowly leaning backwards, pulling Chanyeol with him. Soon he was laid back on the desk as Chanyeol completely leaned over him. 

Chanyeol, thankfully, picked up the encouragement once again.

He finally bit down on Baekhyun’s shoulder as one hand braced himself on the desk and the other tightly held onto one of his hips. Baekhyun sharply inhaled at the pain and his hand gripped onto Chanyeol’s hair a bit tighter. But, he did not push the man away. So, Chanyeol allowed himself to push the limits once again. His lips trailing down Baekhyun’s body while one his hand abandoned Baekhyun’s hip to grab the arm that was pressed against his back and pin it above Baekhyun’s head. Teeth sunk into Baekhyun’s side and the older hissed and squirmed in his grip as his fingers began to pull at the younger’s black hair. Chanyeol stopped to pull away so he could look at Baekhyun, his face flushed and his eyes slowly beginning to open again. 

“Do you want me to stop?”  
“Hell no. If I wanted you to stop I’d tell you.” Baekhyun immediately responded, earning a laugh from Chanyeol.  
“I’ll remember that then.” Chanyeol muttered as he leaned back down.  
“You’d better. I don’t want to have to repeat-!” Baekhyun was cut off by teeth sinking into his flesh again and he openly cried out, more from surprise, but it definitely stung like hell. His chest heaved as his lungs began to work overtime and his heart began to race from the pain. Adrenaline coursed through Baekhyun’s veins as if he was in a firefight and on the losing side. 

When did he start sweating? Because now he suddenly felt sweat running down the side of his face.

Another bite came and Baekhyun whined as the wrist in Chanyeol’s clutches rebelled and tried to escape, which only led to Chanyeol gripping onto it hard enough to leave bruises to keep it in place. His hand that was in Chanyeol’s hair left it and clung onto his shoulder, nails digging into his skin and leaving angry red marks as he threatened to draw blood.

His eyes were squeezed shut as he awaited the next bite. But, the next place Chanyeol’s lips pressed against were Baekhyun’s lips. They were soft and tender. Immediately Baekhyun relaxed as he embraced the gentleness of the kiss. It seemed like Chanyeol was a fast learner. The hand that was resting on Chanyeol’s shoulder moved to slide down his back. Once his hand settled on his hindquarters he pulled Chanyeol closer until they were flushed against each other. 

By the time morning came around a few bite marks of varying degrees were on Baekhyun’s torso. Not that he minded at all. 

\-----

It continued like this for months, as Kris was steadily expanding and cementing his hold on the city. Every night before a fight Chanyeol would find his way to Baekhyun’s bedroom. The two would spend their sleepless nights together and every time Baekhyun would have more bite marks the next day. Apparently the biting was a way for Chanyeol to get his aggression out without actually “hurting” someone. But, Baekhyun couldn’t help but to wonder if it meant more. If he was marking Baekhyun as his own. So.. Baekhyun eventually began to bite back, he wasn’t going to be the only one that was marked if that’s what Chanyeol was doing.

Neither of them openly talked about a relationship or the term “boyfriends”. But, Chanyeol became possessive of Baekhyun, almost too easily. He wanted Baekhyun next to his side almost all the time, and Baekhyun didn’t exactly mind. But.. He didn’t like that nothing was defined yet. He didn’t have a clue “what” they were. Friends with benefits? Lovers? Boyfriends?

One evening they actually went out, everyone in Kris’s inner circle. Apparently it was Tao’s idea since he was insisting it would be good for everyone. If anything some of the guys seemed irritated since many were workaholics, especially Suho. But, Baekhyun was enjoying the dinner they got to go eat. He’s grown so accustomed to the most expensive food and drinks that money could buy. It felt good to live like a king.

There was a cute serving girl that was bringing them all the first round of drinks after the meal in their private room in the restaurant. She was really friendly and nice to everyone at the table. But, Baekhyun caught her eyes more than what would be considered friendly. The two would exchange smiles and that was it for the first two times she came into the room to serve drinks. But, the third time she finished giving everyone their drinks, some of the guys were loud and rowdy at this point. But, the girl handled everyone with grace and bowed to turn to leave. 

Kris was walking back into the room after a bathroom break, so when the girl turned to leave he was only a few feet in front of her. Baekhyun couldn’t blame the girl for jumping and gasping, Kris could be intimidating after all. But, she dropped her tray in the process, thankfully nothing was on it or drinks would’ve gone all over Kris. The circular tray rolled over behind where Baekhyun was sitting, so he quickly got out of his seat and grabbed the tray as Kris continued to go to his seat after shrugging off the girl’s apologies. 

Baekhyun walked close to the the end of the table as he met the girl to give her the tray back and she gratefully took it back with a blush on her cheeks. Baekhyun laughed off her thanks as he scratched the back of his head. It was then that he heard someone whistle before they began to laugh. _Jongdae…_ Baekhyun turned to see the boy sitting there staring at them with that typical grin on his face. 

“You best get her number before someone else here does!” He told Baekhyun as his grin turned into a smirk while his eyes went over to the girl and he gave her a wink, causing her blush to spread even further. By the way Xiumin rolled his eyes Baekhyun figured Jongdae was just trying to push him to ask for her number. So, he turned back to the girl with a nervous laugh. “Uh.. So..”

He couldn’t even try and start another sentence before a long arm snaked around his waist and pulled him backwards, causing Baekhyun to gasp in surprise. Chanyeol was the one sitting at the end of the table, right next to Baekhyun, so he effortlessly pulled Baekhyun into his lap with one arm. The arm still was wrapped around Baekhyun tightly so that he couldn’t pull away and a chin went to rest on Baekhyun’s shoulder. Baekhyun glanced to the side to see Chanyeol intently staring up at the girl.

There was nothing but silence as everyone in the room watched the exchange.

“He’s mine.” Chanyeol practically spat his words and Baekhyun nervously swallowed. The poor girl was bowing deeply and apologizing for any offense before quickly escaping the room.

It was still so quiet and Baekhyun’s face was turning red as he stared at the table rather than acknowledge all the eyes on them. Chanyeol, meanwhile, seemed perfectly comfortable as his free hand reached for his drink and took a long drink, Baekhyun was able to feel his Adam’s apple move against his shoulder blade as he swallowed the drink and suddenly the hair on his arms began to stand up. 

Once Chanyeol sat the drink on the table everyone else at the table hesitantly looked at each other, although Kris, Suho, and Xiumin didn’t seem to care too much. “It’s about damn time.” Sehun’s voice spoke up, causing Luhan to openly laugh. Baekhyun winced, no one was supposed to know about their little “flings” or whatever it was. But, then again.. He should have expected the spy and the spy master to know about it. 

So, several of the others let out a light hearted laugh and everything went back to normal.

Baekhyun went to try and stand up, but Chanyeol’s arm around him only pulled him back into his lap. “ _Don’t._ ” Chanyeol’s low voice in his ear gave Baekhyun chills. With a frustrated huff Baekhyun gave up and settled himself in Chanyeol’s lap, but occasionally he’d complain to Chanyeol. 

“Your legs are too boney.”  
“Your ass is too boney.” 

So, the two would occasionally bicker through the rest of the evening, but after enough drinks Baekhyun lost the ability to be embarrassed by being stuck in Chanyeol’s lap and rejoined the conversations at the table and could even laugh and make jokes with Jongdae and Tao. Even at one point he flew backwards, roughly pressing against Chanyeol’s chest and knocking the wind out of him as he laughed at something that Jongdae said. This earned a small grumble from Chanyeol, but he ignored it. If Chanyeol wanted him in his lap, well then he’d have to suck it up. 

Eventually, the group decided it was time to call it a night and left. Baekhyun made sure to leave a large tip for the poor waitress to make up for the way Chanyeol probably made her feel. But, they left to return to the mansion. Chanyeol’s arm was around Baekhyun’s waist as they stepped into to the mansion. He clung onto Baekhyun as the two walked together so that when it came time for the pair to split up to go to their separate rooms Chanyeol was pulling him towards his bedroom instead.

Once the pair was in the room with the door shut Baekhyun pulled himself away from Chanyeol as he stared up at him with almost defiant eyes. “Okay, look. I’m going to put my foot down here. Tell me what we are or don’t touch me again.” Baekhyun’s voice was sharp and it likely surprised Chanyeol. But, he was tired of this. He wanted an answer. 

Chanyeol groaned as he ran his thumb along his jawline. He was silent for a few long moments as he thought on it. “I don’t care what we are or what you want to call it. So long as no one else touches you and you stay mine.” Chanyeol’s answer wasn’t exactly satisfactory, but Baekhyun shouldn’t be surprised.

“So.. Boyfriends then?” Baekhyun asked, hopeful that the answer would be yes. But, really he just wanted an answer more than anything else.

Chanyeol closed the distance between them as his hands went to rest on Baekhyun’s hips almost too sweetly, at least compared to his typically firm touch. “If you want to be boyfriends, sure. Like I said, I just want you to be mine.”  
“Boyfriends then.” Baekhyun decided as a faint smirk slowly spread across Chanyeol’s face as he leaned down to press a kiss against Baekhyun’s lips.  
“Okay.” Chanyeol agreed as his lips brushed against Baekhyun’s cheek and the older shuddered in response. 

\-----

Kris didn’t seem to even care about the relationship between one of his capos and one of his soldiers. Truthfully, if anything he was supportive of it. In a shootout if things were looking bad and Baekhyun was there, Chanyeol took more risks. Sure, it could be seen as reckless. But, he did what he had to to keep Baekhyun safe and his risks always paid off in the end, even if they were forced to go to the ER afterwards to get a bullet or two removed from Chanyeol. He always managed to bounce back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt bad for only posting short chapters. So I wanted to post this one along side the other two to make up for it! Hope you enjoyed the ChanBaek ;]


	6. The Spymaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/151410050@N07/37043672822/in/dateposted-public/)  
> 

For as long as Luhan could remember he was struggling to survive. His earliest memories were of him stealing food from farmers markets and doing everything he could to avoid the cops. He never knew his parents or family. All he knew was how hunger pains could keep him awake at night, illness meant death, winter was lethal, “the system” was cruel to kids like him, and that favors was currency on the streets. 

He wasn’t the only one like this though.

There were other orphan kids who never knew a warm home and a loving family. The kids typically stayed together, looking out for each other. All they had were each other. But, even that could change in a second. Tensions were always high and even the kids could be vicious to each other.

Life was hell.

However, Luhan was lucky and learned around the young age of ten that information could be sold on the streets. At first it was simple things, telling the small time gangs which stores’ security systems were shit for food or medication. But, then Luhan got smarter. He could get better information and sell it for higher prices. He would steal newspapers to read, which he had to teach himself how to do, and learn who were high profile targets in the city. The mayor, city lawyers, or even simply rich people. He could learn their schedules and sell those to the highest buyer.

At the young age of thirteen, Luhan made a name for himself as not just an information broker in the city, but _the_ information broker of the city. His information was always good, and if he didn’t know something, he could quickly find out.

At eighteen the young man was pretty wealthy. By this time in his life he has expanded to employ more of the homeless and paid them for the information they brought to him. But, he took a gamble and bought out a strip bar. It took a year for him to properly employ the right kind of strippers, the ones who were great at listening, digging for information, and dancing. 

It was then that Luhan _truly_ began to make money. Finally, _finally_ , he could afford to relax some from his work and get his own proper apartment. Before the strip bar he still lived on the streets, not wanting to be “away from work” for a second. Then when he got the strip bar he slept on a couch in his office. But, now he made his own miniature empire where he could finally relax and trust his employees to do their jobs and bring him information, contacts, and buyers.

His strip bar also became a form of sanctuary for those fleeing the mob that ran the city. Namely because those people would carry the sweetest secrets that would sell for so much. But, gangsters were not allowed in his bar and if anything could be said about Luhan, it was that he ran a tight ship. No one dared to cross him and break his rules in the club. He was not afraid to have troublemakers dragged out into the alleyway and have their kneecaps broken. Or those that crossed a definite line of Luhan’s, well, he’d put a bullet in their skull and call it even. 

But, the mob didn’t really mess with him because so long as they stayed out of his bar, he did not bother them. 

He was curious one day when he overheard the story of kids managing to overthrow the mob that was running the place. But, ultimately, he didn’t give a damn. So long as they left him alone, it’d be fine. 

Unfortunately, after about two years of this Kris Wu’s rule, they stopped ignoring Luhan.

They came into the bar, asking to speak to Luhan. Nothing infuriated Luhan more. They barged into his home and demanded to speak with him in his eyes. When security told them that they weren’t welcome it almost got bloody. But, Luhan finally made his appearance.

Quite frankly, he told them to get the hell out. 

It seemed like it was going to come to blood shed, but luckily the tension was defused by one of the dancers.

Apparently, Kris Wu was trying to make a deal with Luhan. So, he privately pulled Kris into his office as the two discussed it. That alone was tense, as Chanyeol was demanding that someone went with Kris, just in case. So, they settled on their assassin going with Kris and the dancer that defused the situation was with them in the office as well, just in case.

Kris laid out his offer very quickly. Luhan’s spy network would have free reign over the entire city if he joined Kris and worked for him as an information broker. He would still receive all the profits from his strip bar. But, when they expand his reach, namely by opening more clubs and bars, those profits would be shared with Kris. 

Luhan wasn’t exactly interested in the offer. But, he was interested in Kris. From everything he’s heard Kris did what he could to help those who weren’t well off, and he tried to keep hard drugs out of the city. So, he decided to agree to it.

Luhan proved his worth to Kris immediately, and Kris was quick to make him one of his capos. It was then that Luhan finally moved into the mansion where Kris’s inner circle resided in.

Not to mention.. Luhan did like the title of “Spymaster”


	7. The Mastermind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/151410050@N07/37215851975/in/dateposted-public/)

Kyungsoo was born into a wealthy family. He was sent to the best private schools as a kid, he was taught how to play a few musical instruments (the piano being his favorite), and he didn’t want for nothing. Unlike most kids, even those in the elite private schools in the city, he loved his math classes more than anything else. So, that was really the largest problem his parents ever faced with him.. Finding something he truly cared about other than math. Sure, he liked to play the piano, he liked to read books, and he liked learning in general. But, it was clear that Kyungsoo just didn’t _care_ about much else.

He graduated early and went to college for economics and business. It wasn’t long before he graduated that as well. That was all because Kyungsoo never took breaks. There were no summer or winter breaks. He even went to morning, afternoon, _and_ evening classes. The pursuit of knowledge was everything to him. So, he was able to get his degree very quickly. 

It was immediately following that when he began to get bored with life. At least until a pleasant distraction came into his life. 

He was soon introduced to Kris Wu. Who was looking for a bookkeeper at the time. Kyungsoo’s “softer” look made Kris unsure if the fit was right. He did not think that Kyungsoo would be able to handle the underworld. Either way, Kris took him on because he was intelligent and good with numbers. But, Kyungsoo had a few sociopathic tendencies that proved he was fit for this life. So, Kris named him his capo.

 _Too_ easily he cut ties with his family when he took on the job. Truthfully it didn’t hurt him at all, not that he expected it to. 

But, being able to find ways to mask the dirty money that his new family brought in and make it appear legitimate? Now, _that_ was exciting. Kyungsoo was constantly challenged with what he did. Not only that, but he also got to work with the brutish enforcer and figure out percentages of failure and success for raids. 

Life has never been more interesting than it has now. 

Everything up until now was trivial and boring. This life that Kyungsoo now had felt like it was what truly mattered. He felt as if this was his calling and he didn’t even believe in callings. 

Not to mention, every night since he moved into the mansion he never slept alone.

That definitely made everything all the more interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, this is _really_ short. My apologies to those who love Kyungsoo. I promise I'll make up for it in chapter nine ;]


	8. The Rogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/151410050@N07/37043673972/in/dateposted-public/)

The streets were home to Jongdae all his life. He grew up just as roughly as the older boy that he soon began to work for, Luhan. When Luhan began to employ others Jongdae was one of the first. He might not have been the best spy in the world, but he was good at blending in and making people feel at ease around him. But, he was surprisingly fierce as well. Once he was older and able to actually have some muscle on him, he wouldn’t hesitate to be Luhan’s muscle. Usually he stuck with brass knuckles, but he knew his way around a gun as well. 

Jongdae wasn’t often around Luhan, however. He was typically on the streets. That’s how he gathered information, anyways. But, he also helped take care of the kids on the streets as well. He knew how hard it was growing up like that. So, he did what he could to take care of them. 

Most of those kids would end up getting employed by Luhan later. So, he also served as a recruiter.

Jongdae was really rather well rounded. 

Well, almost. He wasn’t the best dancer, so he couldn’t exactly serve Luhan too well in the strip bar. But, there was a reason he stuck to the streets.

\---

When Kris and Luhan began to work together Luhan brought Jongdae with him to the mansion, introducing Jongdae to Kris. Jongdae didn’t really enjoy it, there was a lot of posturing. But, when he met the big man in charge, his interest peaked. Not, because of Kris. _Hell no._ But, because of the man next to him.

Jongdae was really rather bored while Luhan and Kris were talking about how to expand the spy network and he was looking all over the office they were in. He was standing in a corner of Kris’s office, out of the way, so he was able to see almost everything in it perfectly. He saw the assassin weighing him up at the door, Kris’s advisor leaning over the desk to look at plans with Kris and Luhan. But.. The other man standing next to Kris caught his gaze. It took Jongdae a moment to realize the one that was previously introduced as Xiumin was looking at him. But, when Jongdae gave the man his full attention and met his gaze Xiumin’s eyes dropped down to slowly trail up Jongdae’s body while his bottom lip was between his teeth. When Xiumin’s eyes finally met Jongdae’s after thoroughly checking him out his eyebrows raised for a moment, as if he was looking for a response from Jongdae. 

Jongdae just about melted.

He was eating up the attention. But, considering the serious atmosphere they were in, he shifted his weight almost nervously. Either way, he still smirked and shot Xiumin a wink as he tilted his head to the side some, letting the man silently know he was interested. 

The sexiest smirk Jongdae has ever seen appeared on Xiumin’s mouth as he continued to regard Jongdae for a moment. Then suddenly it faded and he went back to looking at the plans with the others like nothing happened. It left Jongdae a little flustered and a little irritated. Especially when he left the office when the meeting was over and Xiumin didn’t say a word to him and looked right through him. But, he didn’t mind a challenge.

Little did he know just how much of a challenge Xiumin was.

Although, he probably should’ve figured since as he walked pass the assassin, Kai, the other young man whispered to him. “ _He’s a flirt._ ” It was a quick way to say _don’t feel special._

\-----

It was only a few months after Luhan was made a capo that Jongdae was made into one of Kris’s soldiers due to his reliability. Not much changed for Jongdae, except he got nice quarters in the mansion. But, he still spent most of his time on the streets. 

However, now he was around the so called flirt more often.

He was never really in situations where he could approach him and casually talk to him, though. So, Jongdae decided to create a situation.

He knew exactly where Xiumin’s office was and so one afternoon he went to the man’s office and gave the door a knock.

“Come in.” A voice answered the knock and Jongdae tugged on the sleeves of his gray sweater before he opened the door and entered the room, much to Xiumin’s surprise. He silently shut the door and then crossed the room to take a seat in one of the chairs in front of Xiumin’s desk. He didn’t say anything. So Xiumin sat back in his chair as he looked at him expectantly. “Can I help you, Jongdae?” He finally asked as he rolled the sleeves of his white dress up shirt up past his elbows.

Jongdae finally gave Xiumin his disarming smile before he spoke up. “You can. I want to have a coffee date with you. Or more ‘adult’ drinks. Whatever you prefer.” He was straight forward, he didn’t see a reason not to be after all. An amused sound left Xiumin’s throat as he looked right at Jongdae.  
“I don’t think so.”

“Okay, so you dislike both. Let’s settle on lunch then.” Jongdae continued, clearly not dissuaded by the quick rejection. Xiumin shook his head as he rolled his eyes.  
“I don’t have time to go out for a date. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’d like to get back to work. Kris is going out of town this weekend after all.” Xiumin shooed Jongdae out of the office before he looked back down at the papers on his desk.

“If you say so.” Jongdae said with a still cheery tune as he got up and left Xiumin’s office.

\-------

Sure enough, that weekend came and Kris went out of town, so Xiumin was in charge. 

Unfortunately, a raid that Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Jongdae, and Kai went on did not go exactly as planned and it resulted in Chanyeol going to the ER with two bullets in him. But, that wasn’t anyone’s fault. Bad things happen and they could never predict a raid perfectly.

But, it sure did stress Xiumin out. Which, led to him gathering the three that weren’t in the hospital and chewing them out for not being more careful. Everyone flinched every time Xiumin either raised his voice or got in their face. Everyone except Jongdae. 

Xiumin didn’t scare him.

The only one that did scare him here was Kris, if he was being honest.

Xiumin took notice and narrowed his eyes at Jongdae after he finished scolding him.

\---

The day Kris came back everything was smoothed over and settled. So, Jongdae decided to do something that would likely stir Xiumin up.

One evening he showed up at Xiumin’s office and knocked on the door. Once Xiumin told him to enter he did so, shutting the door behind him and approaching Xiumin’s desk as he did before. But, this time he set a cup of coffee on Xiumin’s desk.

The older man put his pen down and looked at the cup before looking up at Jongdae with a raised brow. “What is this?”  
“Coffee.”  
“What?”  
“I mean. I don’t know what flavor. I didn’t know what you liked so I just told them to give me whatever is popular there.” Jongdae went on with a shrug before taking a sip out of his iced coffee.

“Why?” Xiumin asked as he gave the hot cup of coffee a wary glance.  
“You said you didn’t have time to go out for a coffee date. So, I brought the coffee to you.” Jongdae said with his catlike grin. 

Xiumin finally reached over to grab the coffee and take a sip to see if he at least liked it. Of course, when he was opening his eyes Jongdae stuck a finger in his drink to get some whip cream. About the time Xiumin looked right up at Jongdae was when the younger licked the whip cream off his finger. 

Xiumin winced as he burned his throat from suddenly taking a large drink of the still too hot coffee, coughing after the drink went down. Jongdae let out a small chuckle at this, he knew exactly what he was doing. “I mean, I heard its good. But, easy now.”

“Jongdae.” Xiumin said after clearing his throat and setting the cup back on his desk.  
“Hmm?”  
“.. Thank you for the coffee. It is good. But, you’re still getting under my skin.” Xiumin muttered as his fingers began to tap on his desk in irritation. Jongdae, who was still standing, shrugged his shoulders at the comment.  
“I mean, I’m kind of trying to. Oh, and you’re welcome.” Jongdae’s grin was back on his face, even as Xiumin’s expression darkened.  
“Easy, Jongdae..” Xiumin warned him, but Jongdae didn’t heed it.

“Oh, come on. You’re not as big and bad as you act.” Jongdae was testing Xiumin. But, once again, he wasn’t afraid of him. So, after taking another drink he sat his coffee on Xiumin’s desk as he wandered around his office, taking a look at the few decorations on them. Mostly old paintings. He could hear Xiumin stand up from his desk and Jongdae smirked to himself.

Eventually a hand grabbed his shoulder as he was turned around to face the man who was about the same height as him. “You should take a hint and be careful with how you talk to me. I don’t take disrespect too kindly.” Xiumin practically growled his words and Jongdae’s expression never faltered. If anything, the grin only grew as his playful expression remained.  
“I’m not scared of you. So, if you’re trying to intimidate me.. It’s not going to work.” Jongdae blatantly laughed in Xiumin’s face.

Xiumin’s eyes narrowed for a moment before both of his hands grabbed fistfuls of Jongdae’s shirt and he practically slammed the boy back into the wall. Before Jongdae knew it one of Xiumin’s hands abandoned his shirt and wrapped itself around his neck. He didn’t squeeze, but his grip was firm and very much uncomfortable as those cold eyes burrowed into Jongdae’s.

Xiumin was still trying to intimidate him.

_Cute._

Jongdae’s grin came back after the shock of the air leaving his lungs faded. One of his eyebrows quirked for a moment before he dared to speak. “Typically someone would take me out to dinner before we get to this point.” Jongdae could see the surprise in Xiumin’s eyes for a moment before they darkened. Xiumin’s fingers twitched, clearly wanting to put more pressure on Jongdae’s windpipe. 

“You’re terribly infuriating.”  
“And you owe me dinner.” 

Xiumin’s bottom lip was between his teeth for a moment and Jongdae knew he officially got Xiumin interested. 

The hand around Jongdae’s neck finally squeezed and yet Jongdae did not move, his hands were still at his side. His air hadn’t been cut off completely, but it certainly was harder to get a breath. He only smirked as he raised an eyebrow, then Xiumin let go of him finally. There was no grace in the way Jongdae took in a deep breath through his nose to finally get a decent breath. 

“Go.” Xiumin nodded towards the door and Jongdae silently complied as he walked over to the desk to retrieve his coffee before he went to the door. But, he stopped before he opened it.  
“Oh! Remember, you do owe me dinner now! You’re lucky I can be a cheap date.” Jongdae said before he walked out of Xiumin’s office, leaving the older man to groan and wonder what the hell he just got himself into.

\------

Xiumin, of course, did not talk to Jongdae since he brought him coffee. Which, he did secretly enjoy considering coffee was his guilty pleasure. But, he definitely did not have plans to take him out to dinner. 

If only he knew how persistent Jongdae was.

If Luhan would’ve noticed that Jongdae had his eyes set on Xiumin he would’ve warned the man that Jongdae typically gets what he wants. In the end, everyone falls for his charm.

Xiumin would be lying if he said thoughts of Jongdae did not invade his mind throughout the week.

One evening just after he retired to his bedroom for the night his phone went off.

_Jongdae:_  
_You know the strip bar?_

Xiumin groaned when he saw Jongdae’s name pop up on his phone. His eyebrows furrowed when he actually read the message though, already confused.

_Xiumin:_  
_Of course._

He just managed to sit down in his chair and got a single shoe off of his feet before Jongdae replied.

_Jongdae:_  
_Good. Two blocks down the street there’s this burger joint on the corner. You’re going to take me there tomorrow night and buy me the greasiest burger, fries, and a soda._

Xiumin’s upper lip curled up in a scowl as he read Jongdae’s message. This boy was far too bold for his own good.

_Xiumin:_  
_And why would I do that?_

_(1) New photo message from Jongdae_

Xiumin opened the message and looked at the photo Jongdae sent. It was a selfie where Jongdae was grinning so hard that his eyes were scrunched up and his tongue was trapped between his teeth. It looked like he was at Luhan’s bar from the background of the photo. Xiumin didn’t exactly understand how this was supposed to be an answer to his question. 

It took him a while for it to click.

At first it looked as if one of Jongdae’s hands were simply in the process of rubbing the side of his neck. But, then Xiumin finally noticed the way his thumb hooked around his ever prominent Adam’s apple. It was then that he realized Jongdae’s thumb was pressed into his neck as were his index and middle finger.

A pinkish color went to settle itself on Xiumin’s cheeks. 

_Jongdae:_  
_You’re taking a long time to respond.. Are you embarrassed?? That’s so cute~_

The thought of throwing his phone entered Xiumin’s mind.

_Xiumin:_  
_You really should respect me more._

_Jongdae:_  
_Or what? You gonna choke me or something? ;D_

Xiumin groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose. But, he was trying to ignore the growing smirk on his lips. So, he got up to finally finish out his nightly routine, ignoring Jongdae. When he went to check his phone again before he went to sleep, Jongdae obviously texted him.

_Jongdae:_  
_Umin~_

_You’re still taking me out to dinner tomorrow._

Xiumin rolled his eyes, but relented. 

_Xiumin:_  
_If it’ll get you off my back. I’m going to sleep now, Jongdae._

He heard his phone vibrate once again, but he sat it to the side and proceeded to go to sleep.

\-----

Early into the next evening Jongdae slipped on his red hoodie, his black snapback, and simple faded jeans. It was clear he was not dressed to impress when he left his room to go grab Xiumin out of his office. A smug smile was on his face the entire way. 

Once he entered the office, without knocking, he looked at Xiumin expectantly. “Give me just a second..” The older man muttered as he likely finished some email or something on his phone. But, as alway he was wearing a suit vest, a button up shirt and dress pants.

“You’re not going to change?” Jongdae asked with furrowed brows and Xiumin looked up at him, confused.  
“Why would I?”  
“Oh, dear Lord. Do you have anything casual to wear, like this??” Jongdae asked as he gestured to his own outfit. This caused Xiumin’s face to scrunch up in irritation.  
“No.” Xiumin answered as he stood from his desk.

Jongdae rolled his eyes as he walked over to Xiumin, grabbing his wrist and then dragging him out of the office. “Then you’re lucky you’re my size.” Jongdae muttered as he worked to drag the struggling Xiumin. But, Xiumin managed to rip his wrist out of Jongdae’s grip eventually.  
“I can walk myself. I am a grown man.” Xiumin grumbled as he started to walk in tandem with a smirking Jongdae.

Once they got to Jongdae’s room Jongdae led Xiumin to his closet and gestured to it. “Go on. Find something you like.” He said with a disarming smile, so Xiumin stepped inside the closet and was going through the clothes. Jongdae watched him pick out black graphic T-shirt curiously. He also continued to lean against the doorway to watch as Xiumin took off the vest. He started to unbutton his shirt when he seemed to remember Jongdae’s presence. 

“Do you mind?” Xiumin asked with a pointed gaze.  
“No, I really don’t.” Jongdae responded with that catlike grin of his.  
“ _Jongdae._ ” The older gave him a warning with his expression and his voice, causing the younger to groan.  
“ _Fineee._ ” He muttered as he stepped away from the closet and back into his room, flopping himself on his bed as he went through his phone while he waited.

After about fifteen minutes Jongdae finally heard the door to the closet shut, so he rolled over to get up off his bed, especially considering his stomach was growling. But, when he saw Xiumin his jaw wasn’t the only thing that dropped.

Jongdae fell right off the edge of his bed and onto the floor, cursing as he hit the ground with a dramatic thud.

“Holy hell, man.” Jongdae muttered as he moved to a sitting position on the floor, looking up at Xiumin who was looking down at him with an unimpressed expression. But, Jongdae could see his lips twitch into a smirk for a moment.

Xiumin looked fine in Jongdae’s eyes. For a moment he wanted to just cancel dinner and pull Xiumin down into the floor with him. He paired the shirt from earlier with a leather jacket, dark jeans, a red snapback as his bangs were carefully pushed back into the hat to leave his forehead exposed, and a black pair of wayfarer glasses hung on the collar of the shirt.

“You’re going to have to buy me two drinks.” Jongdae said, still on the floor, as he gaped up at Xiumin. His throat has never been so dry. This wasn’t exactly what he planned for what Xiumin would wear as Jongdae wanted to blend into the scene at the burger joint. But, he wasn’t not about to tell the hot piece of man meat in front of him to go tone it down. 

“Then come on, get up so we can go.” Xiumin said simply, obviously aware of the effect he had on Jongdae. Especially when Jongdae didn’t waste any time in doing as Xiumin asked. 

\---

The burger joint was exactly what Jongdae wanted. It was packed full of people. Xiumin was slowly taking off those sunglasses as they walked in. Could he really look more like a model? This was infuriating. But, they ordered their food, Xiumin paying for it as agreed. Then the pair got their drinks and took their seat as they waited for their food.

Xiumin was glancing around the room uncomfortably from their booth in the corner. “Everyone is looking..” He muttered as he finally looked back at Jongdae, who could only laugh. So, Xiumin was even suspicious of normal everyday people? _Cute._  
“Damn right they are. You went and made sure you looked extra fine, which it’s really cute that you want to look good for me, but you really thought that would go unnoticed?” Jongdae’s response was quick and playful as he leaned over the table some. Xiumin’s expression became bored as he met Jongdae’s eyes.

“See, I would’ve blended in just fine. No one would pay me too much mind. But, _you_.. Now people are wondering your ties to me, if you’re just my friend or if we’re something more, if they can make a move on you. Or better yet.. If you’ll make a move on them. You do have that ‘let me take care of you’ vibe going on right now anyways.” Jongdae decided to fill the silence as his voice dropped down a pitch lower. Despite Xiumin giving him quite the irritated look, he could see the man was hanging on his every word. 

Then suddenly Jongdae was pulling away to sit back in his seat as two trays were more so dropped than put on the table. “Thank you.” Jongdae said to the server in his typical cheery voice as he pulled the tray of food towards him. Quickly he took a bite of his greasy burger and just about moaned over how good it was. 

“Did you just moan?”

Okay, maybe he didn’t realize he did exactly that.

“It’s a good burger.” He argued after swallowing the first bite.

The food seemed to be the distraction that Xiumin needed to relax, since he finally stopped looking around the room and focused on his food. But, at some point he did look up at Jongdae. “Jongdae.”  
“Hm?”  
“Why aren’t you afraid of me?”  
“Wow. Is that your version of sweet nothings?” Jongdae asked with clear amusement before getting a drink. But, he did give Xiumin an answer. “I grew up on the streets, man. There was always someone bigger than me taking my food, or beating me for it. You’ll have to work harder if you want to be scarier than that.” Jongdae spoke about his past as if it were an afterthought. But, that’s what it really was to him. He wasn’t ashamed of it, nor did he harbor any negative feelings towards it. It is what it is.

Xiumin nodded in understanding and continued to pick at his fries for a few moments before he looked back up at the younger man. “You’re scared of Kris.” Jongdae let out a bright laugh in response to that statement.  
“Kris worked harder, I guess.”

\------

The pair eventually left the burger joint, Jongdae happily stating how full he was as they did so. The way back to the mansion was uneventful and so was their walk back to Jongdae’s room so Xiumin could change, _unfortunately._

But, once the bedroom door was shut behind Jongdae he went ahead and locked it, unsure if Xiumin noticed as the other stepped deeper into the room. Jongdae was quick to shadow behind him, arms soon wrapping around the older man’s midsection as Jongdae pulled him into a back hug. “What do you think you’re doing?” Xiumin asked in a cold tone as Jongdae felt his back muscles tense. So, he just rested his chin on Xiumin’s shoulder.  
“Thank you for dinner~” Jongdae sweetly hummed into Xiumin’s ear. His grin grew when he felt Xiumin’s muscles relax. He probably seemed like a childish boy in this moment, innocently thanking Xiumin for the dinner he back armed him into buying him. But, Jongdae knew he was slowly wrapping Xiumin around his finger. The fact Xiumin wasn’t pulling away was a strong sign.

So, Jongdae decided to press his luck by burying his face into Xiumin’s neck, feeling the man momentarily tense again as his breath hit his skin. They stayed like this for a few moments until Jongdae could feel Xiumin start to get antsy in his grip. “Can’t you stay?” He blatantly asked as he purred his words.

“Jongdae..” Xiumin’s voice was quiet, but there was still some warning behind it. Obviously Jongdae didn’t heed it as one of his hands unwrapped itself from Xiumin’s midsection and it slid down to the man's hip.

It was then that Xiumin pulled away, but he turned to face Jongdae, who was so close to pouting. Xiumin glanced at the door before glancing at Jongdae once again. “You did buy me dinner..” Jongdae’s lips curled into a smirk instead of a pout. Xiumin’s expression was unreadable. 

Xiumin walked away from Jongdae, over to a table in the room as he pulled his cell phone out of one of the jacket pockets and looked at it for a torturously long time. Really it was only a minute. But, then he sat the phone on the table and surprised Jongdae by walking over to Jongdae’s bed, his fingers trailing on the duvet. 

_Oh, he's so handsome and he knew it._

“Jongdae.” Immediately Jongdae looked like a dog who just heard the word “walk.” When Xiumin saw this he gave quite the devilish smirk that made Jongdae’s heart begin to work overtime. “Come over here and help me out of this jacket.” Jongdae didn’t need to be told twice as he quickly crossed over to where Xiumin was at. Xiumin’s shoulders tossed back as Jongdae pulled the jacket off of him. But, once it was off he tossed it to the side, earning a raised eyebrow from Xiumin. “You’re not going to hang it up?”  
“Why would I?”  
“It’s your jacket?”  
“I do recall this.” Jongdae said, clearly not giving a damn if it was wrinkled or not. 

Hats were discarded and tossed to the side as Xiumin helped Jongdae out of his own hoodie. But, once that was off Xiumin once again quirked a brow at Jongdae. “You didn’t wear a shirt underneath?”  
“It’s too hot for that.” He responded with a soft laugh. Jongdae wasn’t the most muscular man in the world. But, he was certainly well toned. Most of his muscles were in his arms, but what muscles were on his stocky torso were easy to see, but not _too_ defined. 

Xiumin’s eyes gave the shirtless man a good look over before his hand reached out to grab Jongdae’s waist and pull him closer. That was when Xiumin _finally_ planted a kiss on his lips. The kiss was quickly deepened as Jongdae let Xiumin take lead in the kiss. It was so aggressive and passionate, but at the same time the kiss managed to avoid feeling needy. That was likely Xiumin's influence on it. But, the moment Jongdae began to lift the hem of the black shirt Xiumin was wearing the kiss was broken as Xiumin pulled it over his head and off of him.

“ _Holy shit._ I did not expect that.” Jongdae was quick to react as his eyes landed on Xiumin. The man was built. Xiumin’s muscles were extremely defined and clear to see without him flexing. An amused sound left Xiumin, causing Jongdae to briefly look up at him before he went back to his chest again. “No, seriously. How was I to know you were hiding _this_ under your clothes??” He asked as he reached out and fingers ran down those abdominals of a greek god. 

Jongdae’s wrist was roughly snatched by Xiumin, pulling his hand away as he shut Jongdae up with another passionate kiss. This time Jongdae fought him for control. But, in the end, Xiumin dominated the kiss. Well, until he broke the kiss to unceremoniously push Jongdae back onto the bed, drawing a loud laugh from Jongdae.

\----------

Time passed and Xiumin indeed fell for Jongdae’s charm, even if he refused to admit he was addicted to the younger. But, it helped that Jongdae was typically more or less pliant with him. He may give the older lip, but he would still do as asked. Whenever Jongdae was at the mansion it was common to see him with Xiumin. 

Their nights were spent together and Xiumin was a rough lover. Although, at the same time he doted on Jongdae in those late hours. Definitely not verbally, but he would actually let Jongdae cuddle up with him and he’d kiss bruises or scratches that were left over. He’d run his hands through Jongdae’s soft dark hair and all of his touches for the rest of the evening were so deft and even loving. 

It was that gentleness that caused Jongdae to fall hard for Xiumin. 

“Xiumin.” Jongdae’s tired voice spoke up one night while he was curled up against the older. He was so tired and really just wanted to do nothing but sleep. But, there was something on his mind.  
“What is it?” Xiumin’s voice was always so tender and soft during this time period. It was beautiful, really.  
“Be my boyfriend.” Jongdae answered, biting back a yawn. He could hear a _tsk_ come from Xiumin, so he craned his head up from Xiumin’s firm chest to meet his gaze.  
“You’re already mine, you fool.” Xiumin’s words might’ve been a little sharp, but his voice still was so very soft. 

“You don’t show it front of the others.”  
“And I won’t. This is our business, not anyone else’s.”

That was certainly true, as Xiumin never touched Jongdae when they were not alone. The most evidence others would ever see of their relationship were the marks Xiumin would leave on Jongdae. Well, and occasionally someone would get a glance at the teasing and sometimes even racy text messages between them. Which, it'd almost always be Sehun or Tao stealing Jongdae's phone to laugh over them and Jongdae would turn a blind eye to their antics simply so someone would see "verbal" proof he and Xiumin were together. Although if Xiumin ever found out about that he'd be in for a rough night.

... This is why they never let Baekhyun know about the text messages.

So, Jongdae accepted that for what it was as he laid his head back down on Xiumin’s chest and finally yawned. “Xiumin..” The older simply shushed him in response.  
“Go to sleep, dear.” Jongdae smiled at the words, this was the closest he’d get to Xiumin verbally stating that he cared for Jongdae and he’d only get that in moments like these. He didn’t mind though. He understood. So, Jongdae’s eyes fell shut as he let out another yawn, his arms momentarily tightening their grip around Xiumin before he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops. High-key spicy. _Sorry not sorry._
> 
> And shout out to last Friday when my best friend and I were talking about choking (don't ask). When I declared Jongdae would be into it I think it left her shook all morning. So... That's essentially why that is in this chapter ;]


	9. The Assassin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/151410050@N07/37073318751/in/dateposted-public/)   
> 

Being born in obscurity is always difficult. However, it can be all the more difficult when you’re even insignificant to your family. 

This was Jongin’s life. His parents didn’t exactly care about his existence. So, he spent his time outside on the streets. Which, just down the block lived another boy, Sehun. He was never sure why Sehun insisted on being his friend, but he finally agreed to the friendship and came to really appreciate the other boy. Namely because Sehun would invite him over to his home every day. Sehun’s family didn’t have much, but they did provide that familial environment Jongin craved. 

That couldn’t prevent behavioral issues, unfortunately.

Sehun always was getting himself into trouble. Namely because even from a young age he never was ashamed of the fact he was more interested in boys than girls. This led to others trying to bully him. But, every time Jongin was around when this happened he’d be the one to step in and break bones until the would be bullies backed off. He got suspended from school several times for this, but he’d hang around to walk Sehun to and from school. He hated the days he was suspended because there were times Sehun would come out of the building with fresh bruises. 

This made it easy for Jongin to grow up mean. 

He quickly became very talented when it came to inflicting harm on others. He could snap fingers effortlessly once he was a teenager. Arms didn’t take that much work either. Not to mention that the cries of pain did not phase him. He didn’t consider how scary he was at that point in life. Not until people _finally_ stopped messing with Sehun and would flinch every time they’d turn around to see him there. But, Sehun never flinched around him. Sehun was not scared of him. So, as long as his family was not afraid of him, he did not see the problem with his violent nature.

That was until he began to feel lonely. 

Once he finally opened up to Sehun about this their last year in school Sehun prodded further and Jongin finally admitted he has never gone on a date and he really wanted to. Sehun quickly insisted he’d be Jongin’s boyfriend for an evening so that Jongin could say he’s at least been on a date before. So, the two did exactly that. Sehun took him out to dinner and a movie when they were both off of work the same evening. 

It definitely was far from a _real_ date. But, Sehun was being kind and Jongin appreciated it. Sehun went out of his way to make his friend feel special and even went so far as holding doors open for him and covering the costs of the “date.” It was a bit over the top, really. But, it was cute.

When the pair graduated together they immediately pooled all the money they have been saving up since they first got their part-time jobs and got an apartment together. It was cheap and still in their rough neighborhood. Hell, it was only a one bedroom. But, it was their home. The two were confident they wouldn’t have to stay there _too_ long, considering they both got well paying jobs really rather quickly. Sehun went off and became a stripper, which honestly didn’t surprise Jongin much, and Jongin got involved with far more.. Unsavory work. Quite frankly he became muscle for a criminal group. But, once he realized how skilled he was at taking lives, he became a freelancer.

In plainer terms, he became an assassin. 

It only was about a week before he was swooped up by Kris Wu. 

A tall man who introduced himself as Chanyeol found Jongin and made him an offer. Working for Kris paid a lot of money, so he definitely took it. But, he took it under the name Kai, as he did all of his previous work.

He was quickly made into a soldier and offered a room at the mansion. But, he politely declined so he could keep his shitty one bedroom apartment with Sehun, since he would not be allowed in the mansion considering he wasn’t working for the family. 

Sehun didn’t know that he turned down the offer to live in a mansion to stay with him. It definitely showed because when the pair were both in their shared room that night Sehun fell into Jongin’s bed instead of his own, as he usually did when he needed to talk. 

“ _Jonginnn~_ ” The younger boy whined to him, as he always would before he started in. Jongin simply laid on his back staring at the ceiling as he felt Sehun curl up on his legs.  
“Hmm?”  
“ _He’s so handsome~_ ” Sehun whined more as Jongin laughed over his friend’s plight. He’s been going on about the same thing for a while now.  
“You work for him. How hard can it be to hook him in when you strip almost on the daily for him?” Jongin teased as he finally looked down at Sehun, who only groaned and hit his stomach with his hand.  
“I thought you’d be helpful.” Sehun complained further.  
“I thought you said you were good at what you did.”

Another hand came down on Jongin’s chest, knocking the wind from him before he began to laugh. Eventually Sehun got over himself and joined him before finally dragging himself off of Jongin’s bed to cross the room and crawl into his own.

Jongin would never admit it. But, he was jealous. Not of being the person that Sehun’s attention was on. But, of Sehun. He’s crushed on a few people before, but it’s never been able to go any where. He was afraid that would be how it’d always be.

So, he decided it was then that he spoke up and told Sehun he wanted to be called Kai from now on to distract him from such envy. “What? Why?” The young man asked in a confused voice. Kai could see the way his face was scrunched up just from the sound of his voice.

“Because of work.”  
“I mean. Sure, if that’s what you really want I guess. Can I get a stripper name and have you call me that?” Sehun teased with a giggle fit.  
“Depends on the name.”  
“Hm… What’s the tackiest thing you can think of?”  
“What?” 

It was then that Sehun began to laugh a little too uncontrollably and was unable to respond for the rest of the evening. Although he did hear him softly mutter “Diamond” under his breath before cackling some more. 

He was still that weird kid from the day they first met.

\--------

After a while Sehun was hopeless. This man, “Lu” as Sehun called him, was almost all he talked about. One day Sehun even dragged Kai to a bookstore when he insisted that he needed to get Lu a book as a gift. Kai moaned and groaned about it, but he went because he was a damn good friend. 

He kept reminding himself of that as he was dragged around the bookstore. 

Sehun was dragging him to another aisle when he dug his heels into the ground, forcing the two to stop. Kai’s eyes were fixated on a young man who was standing in one of the aisles, focused hard on a book he was reading. 

Sehun must’ve seen him gaping at the man because he looked over at him, before dragging Kai into another aisle. “ _Go ask him for his number._ ” Sehun’s whisper still managed to be a demand somehow.  
“ _What?!_ ” And like that, the two were in a whisper argument. 

“ _OH! So you can literally murder people but you can’t-_ ”  
“ _Sehun, if you do not shut up you are going to be next._ ”  
“ _TRY ME!_ ” 

Before Kai could properly wrap his hands around Sehun’s neck someone cleared their throat behind them. 

The young men both turned around, with quite a pissed off look on their faces. But, it melted away when Kai came eye to eye with the young man that was the point of the argument. “You two are being distracting.” He said in a surprisingly deep voice that Kai only wanted to hear more of. He was about to apologize, but then Sehun opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry. But, I’m not going to stop. My friend here won’t work up the courage to ask for your phone number. So I’m trying to knock some sense into him.”

Kai froze as his wide eyes went to Sehun, who still looked irritated more than anything. He was thinking of all the ways he could end Sehun right now. He could definitely manhandle him into the bathroom and strangle him there. There’d be no witnesses and no cameras. It would be a good place to do it.

But, then he heard an amused sound leave the other man’s throat. 

His head slowly turned back so he was looking straight at him. There was the softest bit of a smirk on his lips and Kai swallowed hard. Then almost too suddenly the young man was walking towards the odd pair before extending his hand out to Kai. But, Kai looked at his hand in confusion. 

“Give me your phone then.” Kai’s eyes immediately flashed back up to the man’s dark eyes. He could hear Sehun snickering next to him so as one hand reached into his back pocket for his cellphone his other hand reached out to smack the back of Sehun’s head. This earned him a handsome chuckle from the equally handsome man as Sehun grumbled and muttered something about going to another section in the store.

The man took his phone from him and slowly put his number into Kai’s phone. “What’s your name?” That handsome voiced asked and Kai was forced to swallow once again to try and find his courage.  
“Um.. Kai.” He blurted out his “working name.” It was probably for the best to stick to that.  
“Handsome name.” 

Kai’s stomach lurched forward as his cheeks began to heat up. “Thank you.” His voice was so meek and he did not understand why this man was essentially crippling him. But, Kai’s never received this kind of attention before. He also didn’t want the red haired stranger to leave so quickly since he’d be done putting his phone number in soon. “What’s your name?” Kai repeated the question as he intently watched as the man’s brown eyes slowly looked up from the phone to meet his gaze.

“Kyungsoo.”  
“I like it.” Kai said far too quickly, but honestly the man could have told him it was Smaug or Bilbo and he would have liked the name. Kyungsoo must’ve noticed this because he gave him a smile with those heart shaped lips of his and Kai immediately felt like his legs were jello.

“Can you give me an honest answer to a question for me, Kai?” Kyungsoo asked after passing Kai’s phone back to him, which Kai did find strange, but he wasn’t going to complain.  
“Uh, sure.”  
“Would you be interested in having dinner with me sometime this week? Or was your friend incorrect in assuming you were interested in me?” Kai’s jaw dropped and he was silent for a moment too long probably. When he finally realized he did not answer Kyungsoo he scrambled to do exactly that.

“No!” He exclaimed, not realizing the volume of his voice at all until he saw the surprised look on Kyungsoo’s face. Then he realized what his dumb mouth said. “Wait. No, I mean that Sehun wasn’t wrong. I ehm.. I would really like to have dinner with you.” 

That smile was back on Kyungsoo’s face and Kai couldn’t help but to smile in response. “Okay, then. Text me later and let me know what kind of food you like.”  
“I just really like food. I’m not picky.” Kai blurted out immediately after Kyungsoo finished speaking and the shorter man let out another nice laugh.  
“Ah, you’re a cute one, Kai.” Kyungsoo said as he reached up and tapped a finger under Kai’s chin, causing his face to blush even more than it was previously. He couldn’t remember the last time he’s been called cute. He was a child the last time that happened to him. Or Sehun was teasing him, one of the two. 

“Then text me later what evenings you will be free this week and we can go from there.” Kai nodded probably far too eagerly, but he was already putty in Kyungsoo’s hands. “I’m glad I got to meet you today.” Kyungsoo spoke once again in that smooth and easy voice of his.  
“Yeah.. I’m glad I got to meet you too.” Kai said as he politely nodded his head.  
“I’ll talk to you later.” Kyungsoo said as he started to back away from Kai, giving him a quick wink before he turned around completely. Kai was thankful he turned around when he did so he missed one of Kai’s knees giving out in response. But, thankfully he managed to stay standing and watched Kyungsoo walk away.

“ _Wow._ ” 

Kai jumped before turning around to find Sehun creeping into the aisle with a grin on his face. “That Kyungsoo is smooth as hell.” He said with a small giggle, much to Kai’s irritation. But, he couldn’t disagree with him.

\---

After they finally got back to their apartment from the bookstore Kai immediately texted Kris and asked for an evening off this week, considering that Kris has been using Kai to clean up any leftover messes every night. Kai couldn’t help but to feel embarrassed when Kris asked why, but he still gave him an honest answer. Luckily enough, Kris gave him an evening off. Kai hoped it was because he was honest with Kris rather than Kris being amused with the answer he got.

“Are you going to text him?” Sehun asked as he laid out on their couch while Kai hovered around in their kitchen, which was only a few feet from the the couch.  
“Shouldn’t you be telling me to wait?”  
“Kris gave you tomorrow night off. You can’t exactly afford to wait.” Sehun pointed out with a chuckle. It seems like he even knew Kai was desperate for this date.

_Kai:_  
_I only get tomorrow evening off. I’m sorry if that’s too short of a notice._

Kai sat his phone down on the kitchen counter and anxiously waited. 

“What’d you tell him?”  
“Shut up, Sehun.”  
“You’re no fun.”

Kai proceeded to walk to the fridge to distract himself from his phone. Kyungsoo was probably a busy guy. He probably wouldn’t be the type to text back right away. Plus, Kai did feel a little pathetic waiting on a response so eagerly. Lord, he was so very desperate for this to pan out. 

The sound of his phone vibrating on the counter made Kai practically jump across the tiny kitchen over to his phone. He didn’t even hear Sehun make some comment about him being thirsty or something or another.

_Kyungsoo:_  
_That’ll work for me. There’s this new restaurant that opened downtown that I’ve been wanting to try. If that’d be alright with you._

Kai almost melted for the second time today. However, he quickly looked up new restaurants downtown and sure enough, it was some high class five star place. In all the photos of the place people were wearing suits and nice dresses. Kai didn’t own a suit.

“SEHUN.” Kai’s loud voice suddenly cut through the relative silence in the apartment.  
“WHAT.”  
“I have a date tomorrow night.. At a fancy ass place. What am I supposed to wear? What do I do?” Kai was still staring at his phone as he threw his concerns at his friend. It wasn’t the cost he was worried about, considering how well he gets paid. But, it certainly was the attire and etiquette he was mostly concerned about.

_Kai:_  
_Sounds good to me._

_Kyungsoo:_  
_I’ll pick you up at seven tomorrow then._

““It’ll be fine, look you clean up-”  
“SEHUN.” Kai obviously didn’t realize he cut Sehun off because he didn’t hear a single word he previously said.  
“WHAT?!”  
“He’s picking me up tomorrow night.”  
“HERE?!”  
“Yes?”  
“Oh, boy.”

\-----

Kai was happy that Sehun didn’t have to go to work that next day either so he could stick around to help him get ready for his date. It was especially nice since they were forced to go shopping. Sehun managed to talk Kai into asking Kyungsoo what he was planning on wearing, despite his embarrassment. Kyungsoo’s answer only confirmed that they indeed needed to go shopping for an outfit.

Later that evening Kai was finishing getting ready after Sehun helped him style his dark brown hair up off of his forehead. Then there was a knock on the door. “He’s early~” Sehun cooed as he stepped out of their shared bedroom, shutting the door. Well, at least someone was enjoying this. Kai wasn’t sure how much he was going to be able to eat due to how nervous he was. He was already nervous of how Kyungsoo thought of him since he was forced to drive into the bad side of town and go to a shabby apartment building. 

He could vaguely hear Sehun introducing himself before immediately telling Kyungsoo to be “gentle with Kai since he’s so shy” and then telling him that Kai was almost ready. _Great._ Sehun was filling the roll of his mother before prom or something.

How was it he was so confident and sure of himself in every aspect of his life except for _this?_

After he finished buttoning the white button up dress shirt he decided to just grab his black suit jacket and that he’d put it on while he walked with Kyungsoo to his car. Anything to keep Sehun from running his mouth anymore. So, Kai stepped out of the bedroom after dusting off the black dress pants, as if they weren't brand new.

Kyungsoo was looking around the apartment, but immediately stopped and turned to face Kai. Kai watched Kyungsoo’s eyes widen as they looked him up and down. Kai couldn’t help but to do the same to Kyungsoo. The black suit he was wearing made him look _expensive._ Kai didn’t think that was possible, but he still found his breath hitching in the back of his throat. Especially considering he styled his red hair which showed off the undercut of it a lot better than when it was unstyled yesterday.

Kai caught Sehun’s eyes finally and his friend kept glancing between the two, trying to telling Kai something. But, he wasn’t sure-

“You look very handsome tonight, Kai.”

Sehun face palmed behind Kyungsoo since the shorter man beat Kai to the punch. “Ah, thank you. You do too.” Kai was at least quick to return the compliment. He was wondering how on Earth he was going to speak to this man all night.

“Okay, you two be good. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”  
“Sehun, what wouldn’t you do?”  
“That’s not the point. Do you have your keys?”  
“Yes, mother.”  
“Good. Be safe.”

Kyungsoo let out a handsome laugh over the two’s banter and it made Kai smile brightly as Sehun herded them to the door. Sehun practically pushed the two out the door before laughing as he shut the door. Kai was suddenly nervous again as he walked down the hallways to the ever sketchy-as-hell elevator with Kyungsoo.

Once they were in the elevator Kai finally put on his suit jacket and buttoned it. He noticed Kyungsoo adjusting his black tie after he was done. Was he nervous? “I’m sorry about the area.” Kai found himself apologizing since he was sure that’s what was making Kyungsoo nervous, but Kyungsoo shook his head and waved him off.  
“Don’t be. Trust me. It’s fine.” 

The car ride over left Kai feeling anxious as the two didn’t say much except for small talk about the weather tonight and how hungry they both were. The anxiety only flared when Kyungsoo and Kai exited the car to let valet park it. 

“I’ve never been somewhere this nice.” Kai admitted as he walked in the building shoulder to shoulder with Kyungsoo, as if he was afraid of getting lost if he wasn’t glued to his hip.  
“Really? You’ll be fine. I promise.” Following Kyungsoo’s words a gentle but firm hand brushed the small of Kai’s back and he did feel better at the reassuring touch. But, it did also leave him nervous for other reasons.

The pair were seated at a table and then Kai opened the menu only to groan. It was like it was in a different language. “Are you alright?” Kyungsoo asked with an amused voice.  
“Um. Yeah.. I just.. May need help ordering.” Kai sheepishly admitted which made Kyungsoo grin.  
“Can you get any cuter?” 

Kai blushed as he resisted the urge to hide behind the menu. 

“What kind of meat do you want?” Kyungsoo asked, actually willing to help him. Kai was still embarrassed but he really couldn’t be more thankful.  
“Chicken?”  
“Wow. You just got cuter.” Kyungsoo said with his ever growing grin. 

Eventually the two managed to figure out what Kai wanted to eat and it actually helped Kai feel more comfortable around Kyungsoo. So, the two ordered and Kyungsoo ordered them some wine as well before they easily fell into a conversation. 

“What do you do, Kai?”  
“Oh, uhm. I work security.” Yes, that was a close enough equivalent to what he did. This was good. But, Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow.  
“Like a bouncer or..?”  
“Oh, no. I’m a bodyguard for a private client.” Kai “clarified” and felt relief when Kyungsoo seemed to believe him as he nodded his head in response.  
“How much does it cost to hire a bodyguard as attractive as you are?” Kyungsoo asked with a bit of a smirk playing on his lips. Kai glanced down as he swallowed back his nerves. _Come on, flirt back!_  
“For you? Being around you would surely be enough payment.” Kyungsoo let out a soft laugh at Kai’s response as he shook his head.

Okay, maybe that was too cheesy.

\-------

The boys continued to go on a date once a week. Kai was learning that Kyungsoo was quite the romantic man, not that he minded that. He knew exactly how to make Kai feel so appreciated and comfortable. Naturally Kai was quickly infatuated with him. 

But, that was a bit of a problem in itself. He starting to get this guilty feeling in his stomach. One night when Sehun was curled up on his legs in his bed, rambling on about Lu he finally brought it up. “Sehun. Why do I feel so guilty..?”  
“Maybe because you’re lying to him.” Kai winced at the harsh response from his friend.  
“What..?”  
“He doesn’t even know that you were Jongin before you were Kai. I’m also pretty certain you haven’t told him you kill people for a living.” Sehun was quick to point out and Kai couldn’t be mad at him. He was right, afterall. But, he did loudly groan before kicking Sehun off of his bed so maybe he could get some sleep, ignoring the other boy’s curses once he hit the ground.

\-----

The next time he went on a date with Kyungsoo that guilty feeling was eating him up inside. 

They were done with supper and awaiting the bill. Kyungsoo either figured out Kai’s mood wasn’t exactly the peppiest or he was getting bored while waiting for the bill. So, he slid out of his booth and slid over into Kai’s. Kai was surprised, but obviously wasn’t going to push Kyungsoo away from him.

Kyungsoo took Kai’s rough hand in his two soft hands as one of his thumbs ran over the back of his hand. To be perfectly honest he could probably fall asleep like this. He gave Kyungsoo a soft smile as he enjoyed this moment of closeness. Kyungsoo apparently did not think it was enough.

The older leaned in to whisper “I adore you” in Kai’s ear. Kai’s eyes widened as he pulled his head back to face Kyungsoo, to see exactly how serious he was. Kyungsoo immediately looked concerned, but he could probably feel Kai’s hand start to tremble. Sure, this wasn’t an “I love you,” but it was close enough to one. 

“Did I speak too soon..?” Kyungsoo asked with those puppy dog eyes of his.  
“No, no.. I-.. I adore you too.” Kai responded and Kyungsoo smiled in response for a moment. But, when Kai didn’t smile his smile faded.  
“But..?” He gently prodded.  
“I.. Can we go for a drive after this? Preferably out of town? I have something to tell you.” Kai asked and Kyungsoo nodded in response, looking worried.

The drive out of the city was dead silent and Kai loathed it so much. But, eventually they pulled off the road to a small clearing, leaving them with only the trees around the car and the stars in the sky above. Kai marveled out the window at them for a small while. He’s never really seen the stars this clearly since he didn’t leave the city. It was beautiful. He would have to come back to enjoy this sometime. If he was lucky he’d have Kyungsoo at his side.

“Look, Kyungsoo. I.. Oh, this is difficult.” He tried to start, but the words did not want to come out of his mouth. “I-.. I do really adore you and I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. I want you to know that.”  
“Kai. Please.”  
“My real name is Jongin. But, I took on the name Kai when I started working as a professional assassin.”

Okay, really blunt. But, at least it was out there, right?

Kai refused to look at Kyungsoo at all, opting to look out the passenger window at the stars instead.

There was an unbearably long silence and Kai was pretty certain Kyungsoo was still registering what he said. 

A soft hand grabbed his own and Kyungsoo’s fingers interlocked with his own. “ _Jongin.._ ” Kai looked over at Kyungsoo when he spoke up. What he found startled him. Kyungsoo did not have that soft and gentle expression he wore whenever they were together. No, the look was more familiar. It was the same expression Xiumin, Suho, and Kris wore. “It’s okay. You're not going to lose me.”

After a few moments passed Kyungsoo’s expression took on a softer one again. Kai felt a fire flare up in his stomach as he regarded the other man in the dim light.

Kai wasn’t sure where the courage came from, but with one swift movement he unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned over the console to capture Kyungsoo’s lips with his own while his free hand cupped his cheek. 

The kiss was gentle and so simple at first. Kai was thankful as this was his actual first kiss. But, despite his inexperience he became needy very quickly. He allowed Kyungsoo to deepen the kiss and take lead from him and his inexperience. But, he felt like he actually needed Kyungsoo’s affection like he needed air to breathe. 

One of Kyungsoo’s hands ran up Kai’s chest and Kai immediately felt chills coat his skin. Kai’s hand ran along Kyungsoo’s shoulder and down his arm to one of his biceps in turn. In reality this kiss was strained due to the fact they were in a car. But, Kai still wouldn’t change a thing about it. 

Eventually Kai was too tired of leaning over the console at an awkward angle, so he reluctantly broke the kiss to catch his breath as he leaned back in the passenger seat. For a moment the only sound was the two catching their breath. That was until Kai’s phone vibrated in his back pocket, scaring him half to death.

He swore at the brightness of his phone when he held it in front of him to see who messeged him. Sure enough, it was Sehun.

_Sehun:_  
_I’m not going to go back to the apartment after work._

_Kai:_  
_Make safe choices._

Kai sighed as he put his phone away, glancing over to Kyungsoo, who was intently looking at him. “That was amazing.” Kai said, causing the pair to share a laugh. Then Kyungsoo said something about taking Kai home, much to his dismay, and like that they were headed back to the city. But, Kyungsoo held Kai’s hand the entire time he drove.

For the first time that they were together Kyungsoo turned on the radio as he drove back into the city, when typically he’d have it off to talk with Kai. But, it was nice. The pair sang songs together as laughter and music filled what would likely be an awkward silence otherwise.

Once the pair got back to Kai and Sehun’s apartment building Kyungsoo went to walk Kai to his apartment, as he always did. Kai was forced to stop holding his hand to unlock the apartment door. But, he turned to Kyungsoo to say goodnight and Kyungsoo surprised him with another kiss, grabbing his tie to gently pull him down some to meet his lips.

The kiss was long and drawn out, as Kai did not want it to end. But, after about a minute with no end in sight Kai felt behind him for the doorknob to his apartment and opened it. He pulled Kyungsoo inside with him, which was easy to do considering the size difference between them. 

Kai didn’t need the neighbors complaining about PDA.

The kiss was broken as Kai shut and locked the door, figuring Kyungsoo wasn’t going to be immediately leaving. When he turned around he saw Kyungsoo warily glancing towards the bedroom Kai and Sehun shared. “Sehun isn’t going to be home tonight.” Kai answered the unspoken question and Kyungsoo relaxed his shoulders in response. 

Kai recaptured Kyungsoo’s lips and the two shared another kiss since Kai discovered it was now his most favorite thing in the world. 

Eventually the pair were slowly making their way to the bedroom. Once they were both inside Kai swallowed hard. He was so nervous, especially when Kyungsoo was taking off his own suit jacket and then proceeding to take Kai’s off. Then he gave Kai a surprisingly slow and sweet kiss as he slowly undid each button on Kai’s shirt before taking care of his own.

When Kyungsoo’s hands ran up Kai’s bare chest he actually shuddered.

The two shirtless men made their way to Kai’s full-sized bed before falling into it. There wasn’t much room for them both. But, Kai was so grateful Kyungsoo didn’t complain. If anything it was probably a benefit for both of them as Kyungsoo ended up laying on his back with Kai leaning over him, one of his legs tangled between Kyungsoo’s. 

Kyungsoo always seemed to be able to tell when Kai was nervous. He must’ve been able to tell now because he did not make another move on the man. The two lazily kissed each other as their hands explored each other’s upper bodies. But, that was it.

Well, at least until Kai got restless. 

They spent the entire night exploring each other, finally going to sleep when the sun was threatening to peak over the horizon.

\-----

Sometime that early afternoon Sehun must’ve come home, but Kai never heard him enter. He was too tired and still in a heavy sleep in Kyungsoo’s surprisingly strong arms. 

“ _Wowwww._ I’m so glad your date went well last night.” Sehun’s voice finally made Kai’s eyes fly open. He was thankful the blankets at least covered the lower half of their bodies in this moment. He started to naturally pull away from Kyungsoo, but Kyungsoo’s grip on him tightened. “Good morning, Kyungsoo.” Sehun said, clearly with no shame.  
“Good morning, Sehun.” Kyungsoo’s voice was deeper and scratchier than it typically was since he just woke up. 

Sehun wondered over to Kai’s bed when he caught Kai’s gaze. He held out his hand to Kai, the way he typically did when he wanted highfives. Kai gave him a lazy highfive, much to Kyungsoo’s amusement. “Good job.” Sehun praised him before walking away from the bed.

“Where’d you stay last night, Sehun..?” Kai groggily asked as he started to feel Kyungsoo’s thumb rub circles on his waist, he knew Kai was nervous again. This alone could put him back to sleep, the way his eyes began to shut seemed to reinforce that.  
“Lu’s.”  
“Really??” Kai seemed to wake up a little bit more and his eyes opened again to find his friend sitting on his bed and taking off his shoes and then his jacket to reveal that he only wore a mesh shirt underneath it. To be honest Kai wasn’t that surprised with his attire considering Sehun did work last night.  
“Yeah, I’m glad your night was as good as mine apparently.” Sehun let out a slight laugh as he nonchalantly changed out of his mesh shirt and black pants into some gray sweats and a white shirt.

Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow once Sehun took off his shirt (not that it “revealed” much) and then looked at Kai, pulling Kai a little bit closer as if to state who he wanted more. “Sehun..” Kai sounded like he was in a dream like state, probably because of the look Kyungsoo was giving him. After a moment he was able to break eye contact with the man to find Sehun tugging some pants on in the middle of the room.  
“Hmm?”  
“I get you don’t care, but.. In front of Kyungsoo?”  
“Hey, this is my room too!”

Kyungsoo laughed and Kai loved feeling the vibrations from his chest. 

“Do you two want breakfast? I’m going to get some greasy heart attack shit delivered.” Kai groaned as Sehun insisted on talking with them.  
“Yeah, I’ll take something.” Kyungsoo surprised him by speaking up and Kai couldn’t help but to let out a small laugh. How the hell did he have two completely shameless people in his life??  
“Fine. Get me the usual.”

Eventually Kai convinced Sehun to get the hell out of the bedroom so that Kyungsoo could get up and put his clothes back on without Sehun’s curious gaze. Kai proceeded to change into a pair of sweats and a shirt as well, figuring he was going to be extra lazy today.

When they all were on the couch eating their food Sehun opened his mouth. “So.. Kyungsoo.. How was-”  
“Sehun, If you continue that thought I will actually kill you.” Kai interjected before Sehun could go on. Kyungsoo laughed once again as Kai focused on the food while the two on either side of him must’ve shared a look since they both leaned back and then Kai could hear Sehun giving Kyungsoo a high five as well.

It certainly was painfully awkward for Kai, but apparently not for the other two. Once they all finished their extremely late breakfast Kyungsoo said his goodbyes and left. Then Kai was bombarded with questions from Sehun.

\-------

Eventually Kris mentioned the want for a proper bookie in front of Kai, who immediately piped up, assuring him that he knew someone that’d be perfect for the job. So, shortly thereafter Kyungsoo was introduced to and later accepted into the family. 

That was when Sehun and Kai finally moved out of their apartment. Luhan already moved into the mansion and now that Kyungsoo was moving in, they did not see the reason to stay. Especially since Sehun was allowed to stay there now that he was a spy for the family. 

It was a slightly bittersweet for the friends. But, they both were eager to move into the mansion. Kai and Kyungsoo both were happy for the more time they’d be able to spend together. But, this was the first time Kai was seeing Kyungsoo’s other side, the side he briefly saw in his car that one evening. 

Apparently he could be just as violent as anyone else there.

\------

Kai and Kyungsoo’s nights were always slow paced and impassioned. Kai wouldn’t have it any other way. One night while they were wrapped up in each other’s arms Kyungsoo broke the comfortable silence. “I adore you, my love.” His husky voice whispered into Kai’s ear. Ever the romantic, Kyungsoo managed to make “I adore you” into their version of “I love you.” 

Kai wouldn’t be caught complaining though. Certainly not. He adored Kyungsoo with every fiber of his being and he’d do anything to keep him safe. 

That was put to the test a few years later when Sehun found him in the mansion and pulled him to the side, looking like he saw a ghost. He told Kai the plans one of Kris’s footsoldiers had in store for Kyungsoo and Kai never felt so much wrath. 

He tracked the man down that night and dragged him into an alley and put a bullet in his skull, putting an end to the assassination plot against Kyungsoo before it could officially begin.

When his cold eyes looked up from the body he found a pretty handsome young man standing in the alleyway like a deer in the headlights. 

“I’m sorry you got mixed up in this.” Kai said before aiming the gun at the witness. Kai didn’t leave witnesses. 

The young man held his hands up and was backing up, assuring him he was forgetful. Kai curiously watched him step out into the street, not even paying any attention to where he was going. 

It wasn’t hard to guess what would happen to someone stepping out onto a busy road.

A car mowed into the young man, he was lucky he went over the car. The car kept going, which wasn’t a surprise considering the shitty neighborhood. Kai walked out towards the street as he tilted his head to observe the boy. He was still breathing, although he was struggling. By the way his right side drooped a little under his shirt as compared to his left side indicated a lot of ribs were broken. They must’ve punctured his right lung. He was going to drown here on these streets. 

It was a pity the car hit his right side instead of his left, a broken rib might’ve punctured his heart and made it end quicker for him. No one wanted to die like this. It’d be miserable. But, it wouldn’t take so long. Especially since no one was stopping to help.

The car handled the job for Kai and he found himself pleased by this and quickly left to return to the mansion. 

Kai was very good at what he did. He was incredibly skilled at being violent at the flip of the switch. But, he was also able to flip the switch off whenever a job was done and essentially compartmentalize his work from his personal life. This was seen as a fantastic quality in the criminal underworld. Even if it did mean he was prone to snapping on occasion.

So, he returned to Kyungsoo’s bed, eagerly joining him as if nothing happened. Kyungsoo welcomed him with quite literal open arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every time I wrote a scene with Sehun I was constantly saying "Why are you like this?"
> 
> Also, RIP my dear friend [KimCharmaine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KimCharmaine) who I essentially wrote this chapter for. ( _She ain't dead. But, this chapter may change that._ )
> 
> She's the one that helped me make this vision well.. Visible with the aesthetics! So, yeah! Aesthetics are now a thing. Yay! I've updated all the previous chapters with the aesthetics for their respective person. =D
> 
> But, please go check out [KimCharmaine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KimCharmaine)! She writes so beautifully. Not only that she's the entire reason why I even started writing Sheep Among Wolves in the first place.


	10. The Thief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/151410050@N07/37073314031/in/dateposted-public/)   
> 

Zitao was born in a completely average family in almost everyway. They were middle class so he still went to public school and they got him gifts and new toys whenever they could afford to do so, so he did not go without but he could not say that he didn’t ever want. So, he still was envious of the richer kids he would see in the rich neighborhood. Not to mention he easily mingled and made friends with these “rich kids.” He loved their homes and their lifestyles where they got everything they could ever want.

So, this led to a bad habit of his. 

Tao was a kleptomaniac, through and through. 

He was really rather good at it too since he was good at looking someone in the face and carrying a conversation with them while his hand was slipping into whatever they could to take whatever he could get his hands on. He was bold and really rather shameless. It helped that he was charming as well. He could make people lower their guard as he stole from them right in front of their face.

Sure, he got caught a few times, but he often was able to talk his way out of it. The easiest thing to do was act surprised, apologize profusely, act embarrassed and act like it was a dumb accident the result of his carelessness. People wanted to believe him, so they did.

 _Oh,_ how he loved it. 

It was safe to say that Tao, as his “friends” would much rather call him, never worked an honest day in his life. Even after high school all he did was steal. He would pickpocket for easy money, but he also began to take more risky jobs, because he loved the rush he got. That childish “I’m gonna get caught if I don’t hurry!” feeling spurred him on. 

He would never forget the first time he held an actual diamond in his hand, a diamond he stole (along with many others). He ended up keeping that diamond, as little as it was. Tao wasn’t exactly sentimental, but apparently he was for once. He put it in a proper case in his rather nice apartment in the most hipster neighborhood in the city. 

Tao was very good at what he did, yet he went unnoticed in his career. That was on purpose. The last thing he wanted was to serve jail time. _Hell no._ He wouldn’t survive in jail. No thank you! So, it was no surprise that almost everyone he worked with has never heard of him before. 

To be fair, he didn’t really pay attention to names either. He simply didn’t care _who_ someone was. It was more about _what_ they owned. 

Although.. One day that attitude of his did make him run into trouble.

Quite literally. 

He was walking down the street one day, slipping his hand into purses and pockets when he could. Within an hour he made enough to pay off his rent for the month. But, then he saw a mark that screamed wealthy. Well, at least “low key” screamed wealth. The leather jacket the tall man was wearing looked worn, but Tao could tell the difference in something that was worn through use, or made to look that way for pretentious buyers. 

He purposefully ran through an alleyway to cut back around the block so he could be in front of his new mark. Then as casually as he could, he ran right into him.

 _Damn,_ he smelt good. His cologne was a subtle smell, but if Tao closed his eyes long enough he could fool himself that he was in a forest. Granted, he’s never been in a forest and definitely didn’t have the desire to be. Well, until now anyways.

Regardless, his hand deftly slipped into the inner pocket of the jacket. _Jackpot._ The man’s rather fat wallet was inside that pocket and quickly Tao pulled his hand out, wallet in tow, as he slipped his hand into his own jacket pocket. “Shit, man. I am so sorry!” He quickly apologized as he clasped his hands together as if he was begging for an apology. “Wow..” Tao’s eyes then purposefully widened as the man gave him an unimpressed expression. “If I knew I was going to run into someone so handsome I would’ve hit you hard enough for us to hit the ground.” Tao added for flare as his lips curled into a smirk. 

This earned him a deep chuckle from the man and Tao’s internally cursed at how attractive this man was. “It’s all good. It happens.” The man accepted his apology with a smooth voice that made Tao immediately catch his bottom lip between his teeth. The man raised an eyebrow and Tao’s eyes dragged away from the man’s lips to his dark eyes.  
“I’m sorry, once again. I hope you have a good day.” Tao needed to get away from this man, the longer he stuck around the more likely he’d get caught. But, he didn’t depart from him without a flirty wink. 

Tao broke off from the man and walked down the street. This was always difficult. His body was screaming at him to bolt, but it was important to be relaxed and casual as he walked down the street. But, the moment he got close to an alleyway he quickly slinked off into it, taking the wallet from his black jacket. He opened it and checked out the ID for curiosity sake. _Kris Wu._ Hm. He was a handsome one. Ah, _if only, if only._

But, Tao truly fell in love once he saw how much cash was in the wallet. He never played around with cards since that was a sure fire way to get caught. But, this man carried some serious money on him. Who carried around two thousand dollars _in cash?!_ Tao was about to swoon as he folded up the cash and pocketed it. He turned to the dumpster to toss the wallet, but that’s when he turned to face quite the intimidating figure instead. 

Tao didn’t even get a second to react before his shoulders were grabbed by hands that were far too rough and he was tossed back into the brick building. He felt cuts open up as the bricks dug into his back and he hissed at the pain as his sharp eyes looked up at this Kris Wu. “Do you know who you just messed with?!” He bellowed, but Tao was unflinching. 

How bad could it be?

“Kris Wu? Your ID gave me that much information.” Tao offered up as he held the wallet up between them. Kris rolled his eyes as he sntached the wallet out of his hand, but it was noticeably lighter since all the cash was still in Tao’s pocket.  
“My money. _Now._ ” Kris demanded and Tao let out a dramatic sigh.  
“Oh, come on. Can’t I keep a little bit of it? Not like you’d notice if this is walking around money.” Tao still lacked any shame as he whined. But, no one was honest if they carried around this amount of cash. Kris wasn’t going to go to the cops and he knew it. He was still surprised, however, when Kris smirked at him. Either way, Tao reluctantly pulled the cash out of his pocket and handed it back to Kris with a groan.

He could almost cry over how much money he was handing back over.

“This is nothing.” Kris muttered as he held the cash in his hands for emphasis.  
“Is it now?” Tao asked with a quirked brow. Okay, maybe he was beyond shameless, but he didn’t exactly give much of a damn. Not to mention it drew another deep chuckle out of man as he pocketed the money and his wallet.

“So you’re a thief then?”  
“I mean.. Do you need me to steal the money again for you to get that?” Tao was quick to respond as he eyed the man’s jacket outer pocket that he carelessly shoved the money into.  
“Look.. I need a good thief and you won’t find someone who gives you a better cut than I do. So, what do you say?”

What? 

Tao’s eyes narrowed for the moment as he wondered why he was getting a job offer, especially since he was caught. But, since when did he turn down the chance to make more money? So, he sucked it up and wrapped his arms around Kris in a hug. “Awe, thank you.” He said as he felt the man tense, which made him giggle. It was then that he felt him relax. Good.

One of Tao’s hands still slipped into his back pocket to slide his phone out while they embraced. He was thankful he did not wear tight pants, otherwise it’d be a lot more difficult than what it should be. “So, I’m going to give you my number.” Tao said as he pulled away, holding Kris’s phone in front of him and quickly adding himself to Kris’s contactlist. He certainly did not predict giving a mark his phone number today, but he wasn’t complaining either. Kris was handsome as hell. 

When he glanced up from Kris’s phone he could see the irritation on his face, but this was to prove a point. He wasn’t _just_ a good thief. It must’ve been a fluke that he was caught. So, once he put his information in Kris’s phone, he reached around Kris to slide his phone back into his back pocket, with quite the smirk on his face.

“Now, give me a call and let me know when you want to go over details because I have work to do right now. So, if you’ll excuse me.” As he spoke Tao could not resist sticking a few fingers in the coat pocket Kris shoved the money into as he pulled his hand back around from his backside. He didn’t stick around long enough to try and take all the money. He grabbed whatever he could as soon as his fingers were in his pocket and pulled his hand back out.

It was only three hundred dollars. But, that was three hundred more than he owned thirty minutes ago.

So, after deftly pocketing the cash as he distracted Kris with his words he slipped out from between the wall and Kris, much to his dismay, and walked away. 

\-------

Sure enough, later that evening Kris contacted Tao and planned a meeting between them since apparently he was one of those that didn’t like to talk business over the phone. Or maybe he didn’t trust Tao yet. Either way, it was a bit annoying, but.. Tao was looking forward to it all the same. He looked forward to seeing Kris again, as he was a handsome man. But, he also very much looked forward to “easing his burden” by making his wallet weigh a little bit less again. 

He was floored when he arrived at the address to find a freaking mansion. 

But, with the confidence and attitude that he owned the place he walked up to the doors. Whoever the security at the door was asked his name and Tao raised an eyebrow. But, the door soon opened to the mansion anyways. “It’s alright. We’re expecting him.” A shorter brunet said as his head peaked out to observe Tao a moment. “Come on in, Kris is waiting for you.” The man waved him in. 

Tao was led down the halls and his sharp eyes were always looking for something expensive that would not be missed. It was a habit of his, after all. But, eventually he was led into an office and Kris was sure enough leaned against a desk, clearly in thought before he looked over to the now opened door. “Thank you Baekhyun, now if you wouldn’t mind giving us privacy.” Once more, Tao quirked a brow and a sly smirk appeared when Kris’s smooth voice asked for privacy. Baekhyun simply nodded and shut the door behind him as he left their company. 

“You know, if you wanted to get me alone you didn’t have to do all this posturing. Although.. Color me impressed if this joint is yours.” Tao couldn’t help but to say with a slight giggle as he glanced around. Kris only chuckled at his words. _Good._

“What I need from you right now isn’t that much to be honest with you. But, we’ve been trying to get a fence. Although, because of the grudge everyone holds for the previous family that ran the city no one really wants to work with me.” Kris explained and Tao rolled his eyes when he heard he wanted to use him to get in contact with a fence. But, then his eyebrows raised when Kris mentioned the previous family that ran the place.

“Whoa. Wait. I stepped into a lion’s den, didn’t I?” Tao held his hand up as he looked at Kris with slightly wider eyes.  
“What?”  
“You’re part of the new mafia in town???” Tao asked and Kris scoffed at his question.  
“Part of it? I run it.”  
“ _Holy shit._ ”

Tao ran a nervous hand through his blonde hair as he paced around the office, still looking for small things to snatch. “You realize few will work with me if they knew I was even talking to a mafioso? You’re right about grudges. Apparently the last family were shitbags. The same is expected of you. You’re actually asking me to risk my career here.”  
“I’ll pay you.” Kris didn’t seem to care much about Tao’s potential problem here.  
“I live an expensive lifestyle, I _can’t_ lose any work.” Tao continued on as if Kris didn’t speak. So, he continued to go on about how much he needed his work as Kris walked around to his desk and opened a drawer.

“I don’t know how-” Tao immediately shut up when he saw what Kris dropped on his desk. Kris smirked when he saw Tao’s reaction.  
“Ten grand says you’ll take the risk.”  
“TEN GRAND!?” Tao couldn’t help but to exclaim as he rushed over to the desk. Ten grand just to play a messenger? This man was not playing around. Tao didn’t even ask before he snatched up the money and got to counting. Kris watched him carefully as he counted every bill.

Sure, Tao definitely got paid more for jobs like diamond grabs, but this was easy money. Why the hell was he offering up _this_ much??

Eventually Tao looked back up from the money once he was done counting. Kris walked over and took the cash from him and held it in his own hand. “But, first you get us a fence that’ll work with me.” His smooth voice just about melted Tao as he met his dark eyes. Tao bit down on his bottom lip in thought and he noticed Kris’s eyes drop down to glance at his lips as he did so. Oh, he was interested and this was such good news for Tao, despite everything else.

“Fine. I know a cowardly fence, a bit of a rat if you ask me. But, he can be your entrance into the thieving world. He will try and cheat you out of money though. We can make it work, but you’ll have to personally meet him, without your ‘family’. Oh! And if you want me to stick my neck out like this you’re going to be hiring me for all your thieving needs, do you understand me?” Now Tao was making the demands. But, this would be their deal. Kris could take it or leave it. Tao needed to know he’d have some kind of “job security,” even if that didn’t really exist in this kind of business.

Kris seemed surprised by his statement, but he did mull it over for a moment with an unreadable expression. Then he extended his hand out to Tao. “We have a deal then.” With a firm nod Kris took Tao’s hand and shook it. Tao wasn’t surprised by his firm grip and he nibbled on his bottom lip in thought again. Once again, Kris glanced down to his lips. 

_Screw it._

When Tao let go of Kris’s hand his own hand immediately went to trail up to Kris’s shoulder before Tao went to stand slightly behind him. “I’m glad we could agree with each other.” Tao’s voice dropped in tone as his hand rested on Kris’s shoulder, the slightly taller man turned his head to give Tao a curious side eye. 

His fingers were playing with the collar of Kris’s black shirt, keeping his attention on that as his hand slid into Kris’s back pocket again. “I do think we will have a successful partnership. Don’t you agree?” Tao needed to keep Kris busy as he deftly slid the wallet out and balanced it on the desk so he could grab some cash out of it. 

He was lucky Kris took the bait.

“I do.” Kris responded as a half smirk slowly appeared.  
“I also won’t mind getting to see you as often as I will be.” Tao purred with an ever so charming smile on his face. Two fingers managed to get a few bills out of Kris’s wallet as two of his other fingers tucked themselves under Kris’s collar to run along his collarbone. Kris’s back straightened some at this touch, but he did not pull away. 

“You’re bold aren’t you?”  
“ _Oh,_ you have no idea.” Tao grinned at this, considering he was sliding Kris’s wallet back into his pocket before pocketing the cash. As if nothing happened he stepped away from Kris and gave him a flirty wink and a small wave as he walked towards the door. “I’ll send you the details later.” 

With that, he led himself out of the mansion. 

Later he counted out how much he grabbed from Kris and it ended up being five hundred dollars. This man really should learn to stop carrying around so much cash. But, hey, Tao got to benefit from his idiocy. So, he wouldn’t be caught complaining.

\------

The following evening Tao texted Kris a time and a meeting place. He also made it very clear that Kris better come alone or not bother showing up at all. He was a little anxious that Kris would either not show or bring “backup” and all of Tao’s effort would go down the drain.

Yet, while he was standing on the sidewalk he told Kris to meet him at, he spotted the man walking towards him. _Alone._ Tao was letting out a sigh of relief when he noticed him glance at the building across the street. With a held breath he glanced across the street and looked at the apartment building. Was he simply looking across the street, or..? 

_Shit._

Tao saw the opened window with the curtains pulled back a slight bit. It was difficult to make out, but sure enough there was a rifle barrel pointing out of the window. With an irritated expression he turned to glance back at Kris. “Are you serious?!” He hissed once Kris was a few feet away from him. “I said alone.”  
“He’s not technically with me.”  
“I swear, you are lucky the scumbag you’re meeting today doesn’t inspire any loyalty in others. Because if he was any other fence I work with you and your sniper would’ve been found out and then you’d be blacklisted among the fences. That’s at best, Kris.” Tao’s voice was still a harsh whisper, despite Kris not looking too concerned. If anything he looked entertained.

“Really?”  
“Kris, if you do not listen to me or trust me on any of this then we can part ways right now. You _have_ to take this seriously. Controlling the city does not mean you control the people inside of it.” He did not want to lose the opportunity to make easy money, but Tao was not about to put his career at risk just because Kris did not understand how things worked among thieves.

Kris seemed to become a touch more serious and nodded, realizing that perhaps he should listen to Tao. Contrary to popular belief, thieves did have a honor code. At least, the successful ones did. Kris would have to learn how to respect it. If he could learn how to listen to Tao it’d be so much easier for him. To be fair, Tao did steal from him and wasn’t exactly making any attempts to earn his trust. 

So, after Tao let out a strained breath, and walked up a few steps to a rundown looking home. Kris was hesitantly following behind him. The wire door screeched as it was opened, causing Kris to glance around as if he was being watched. _Good._ If this was anyone else they were meeting, there would be quite a few hidden eyes on him. 

The wooden door was opened and it revealed, well, not much at all. What would be the living room was completely bare, the wooden floors groaning under their feet as they stepped in and shut the wooden door behind them. “Alright, Tao, who’s this friend of yours?” A voice came from around another wall before another man walked around it. He was average in almost every way, someone you wouldn’t look twice at on the street. But, that probably made him a good thief back when he was younger. 

“Mercer! This is my friend, Kris.” Tao exclaimed as he walked over to the man while he was gesturing at Kris, who seemed more like hired muscle than a thief right now. The fence, Mercer, seemed to pick up on that.  
“Kris..?” Mercer questioned as he looked Kris over. Tao shot Kris a warning look, but the idiot didn’t heed it.  
“Wu.” Kris responded and Tao grimaced as he looked over to Mercer, whose jaw dropped. 

“Get out. Now.”  
“Now, listen Mercer.” Tao was trying to ease things over as he stood only a few feet from Mercer.  
“No. You know how we play, Tao. No cops and no mafiosos. I am not committing career suicide.” The man argued with a sharp look. This did nothing but irritate Tao.  
“Career suicide?” He scoffed with an eye roll, which earned him a pointed look from Mercer.

With absolutely no warning Tao’s fist was colliding with the man’s jaw. He was lucky it didn’t break as he dropped to the floor holding onto it. But, Tao was wearing a whole lot of rings, so he knew it hurt like hell. “You already put a bullet in your career when you became a snake of a man! You’re a cheat, Mercer. This is why no one wants to work with you anymore. This is why you’re struggling and have no back up!” Tao laid out the facts for him before holding a hand out towards Kris. “Now, I think you’re going to be more polite to my friend, here.” He said with his serious expression still on his face.

As Mercer looked up and narrowed his eyes at Tao he couldn’t help but to roll his eyes before he looked over at Kris. “You have a gun on you?” Tao asked and Kris still looked stone cold, but an eyebrow did quirk up for a moment.  
“Yeah.” When Kris gave him a simple answer Tao held out his hand to Kris again, this time palm up. The kingpin sighed, but reached behind him for the pistol that was resting between the small of his back and his pants. Then, he handed it over to Tao, who immediately cocked the weapon and aimed it at the fence.

Finally Mercer’s expression dropped as he became that coward everyone knew him to be. “Now, listen here, Mercer. This is how it’s going to work. You’re going to be the fence for my friend here. You will work to reclaim the honor you lost. I mean, you really don’t have another option do you?” Tao wore quite the condescending smirk on his face as he looked down past the pistol at Mercer. 

Mercer was shaking and not answering Tao and that left him getting bored. Tao wasn’t a killer, as he’s never done so before. But, he was great at bluffing. 

“Oh, come on Mercer. I don’t have time for this bullshit.” He let out an exasperated sigh before pointed the pistol at the floor next to Mercer and pulled the trigger. This led to Mercer crying out as he flinched away from the shot that went into the wooden floor next to him.  
“Okay, okay!” Mercer exclaimed as he looked up at Tao.  
“Good. I’ll make sure Kris here gets your information. _All of it._ So, you’ll hear from him when he’s looking to sell. And you’ll give him his fair cut.” Tao was already passing the pistol back off to Kris as he walked back towards the door. It was time to leave before things went wrong. 

Meanwhile Kris was putting his phone to his ear with his free hand, “We’re all good, Kai. _Someone_ got a little overzealous here.” Kris said as he followed after Tao and out of the home. 

The moment the pair were back on the street Tao turned to Kris, “Okay, time for my cash.” Tao said as he held out his hand to Kris once again. Kris smirked and shook his head as he reached into his back pocket and then passed the money off to Tao, who then counted it once again right in front of Kris. 

It was all there. 

“Thank you, sir. I’ll pass off the information and see you later.” Tao cheerily hummed as he smiled at Kris.  
“That was impressive back there. I didn’t know you had that in you.” Kris commented with a hint of a smile on his face. Was he really lingering around? Well, that was adorable.  
“Well, hopefully I can continue to surprise you.” Tao added with a wink before turning his back on Kris to go his own way. He went ahead and pulled out his phone to pass off Mercer’s information to Kris as he walked, still hoping Kris’s eyes were on him the entire time.

\------

Things continued like this for a while. Kris would call Tao in whenever he had work for him and that was it. Well, Tao always pocketed more money when he spoke with Kris, namely because of his “sticky fingers.” But, nothing was really changing from that. Of course, when it was the two of them there was some playful flirting, but nothing beyond that.

One evening Tao was leaned back in one a chair that was across from Kris’s desk with a lollipop in his mouth as Kris was looking over the diamonds that he emptied out of a velvet bag onto his desk. Tao was looking up at the ceiling as he swirled the candy around in his mouth with his arms hanging over the armrests of the chair and his feet kicked up on the edge of Kris’s desk. 

The only sound in the room was the lollipop occasionally clicking against his teeth. 

Finally, Tao glanced down and he caught Kris staring straight at him. Most people would look away when they got caught staring, Kris did not. He looked like a predator that found their prey. Hm. That was sexy, wasn’t it? Tao raised an eyebrow as he looked at Kris. They were still sitting in shared silence for quite a while. “Well?” Tao finally broke the silence after pulling the lollipop out of his mouth. 

“How much you asking for on this?”  
“Twenty percent.”  
“Twenty?”  
“Yep.”

Kris let out a frustrated huff. “The fence is going to ask for ten or fifteen percent.”  
“I know.” 

Kris ran his hand through his dark hair as he rolled his eyes. “You’re still making a profit.” Tao pointed out as he pointed at Kris with his lollipop. “You also know I’m expensive.” Tao tacked on with a grin before he brought the lollipop back to his lips.  
“Oh, I know.” Kris muttered, making Tao bite down on the the candy and cracking it on his teeth. He took a moment to eat the cherry lollipop before standing up to walk around to the edge of the desk and drop the stick into the trashcan before walking over to stand next to Kris.  
“Take it or leave it.”

Kris looked up with a bit of a darker expression at the challenge, especially considering the diamonds were already on his desk. Kris stood up, standing up a little bit taller than Tao. He was intimidating, but Tao was a master at not flinching away. “Okay.” Kris relented rather easily, which made Tao grin even more. But.. There was more money to be made here. 

So, Tao reached out to Kris and his hand ran along the man’s midsection while the other went straight for his back pocket. “I wonder if I could ask for fifty percent and you’d give in to me..” Tao said with a bit back giggle, trapping his bottom lip between his teeth. He was bold with Kris and possibly even reckless, as he was essentially poking at a tiger with a stick every time he did this. But, it was good for a distraction. 

Kris let out a sharp exhale as he regarded Tao for a moment. It was long enough for Tao to grab Kris’s ever fat wallet. He watched as Kris wet his lips and his grin only grew. Oh, how he was trapping this man in.

Suddenly a large hand grabbed Tao’s forearm in a bruising grip. 

Tao’s grin immediately vanished as Kris’s eyes bore into him and pulled his arm away from Kris’s back pocket and in between them. Now, Tao suddenly realized he was not trapping Kris. If anything, it was the other way around now. Fear was all over Tao’s face. He knew what happened to those that crossed Kris. They did not survive. Today Kris could see this as him being crossed twice. 

“If you’re going to be taking my money, give me the pleasure of spending it on you.” 

A smirk was playing on Kris’s lips as he dropped a bombshell on Tao. Somehow Tao’s eyes widened even more. “What..?” Did he really hear Kris right?  
“I know you’ve been taking cash out of my wallet for a long while now. But, I let it happen. I’m not going to let it happen anymore. Either let me spoil you personally, or don’t you dare touch any of my money that you have not earned ever again.” Kris made things very clear, but Tao was still so very uncertain how to react considering this came out of left field. At least the grip on his arm loosened. 

After a few silent moments of him studying Kris’s face Tao ripped his arm away from Kris’s grip. Once his arm was free it wrapped around the back of Kris’s neck as he pulled him in so that their lips met. Kris let out a deep chuckle into the kiss, but he kept his hands to himself still. Even as Tao was continuing to kiss him. 

Hell, Kris was a handsome man. Not only that but he was a handsome man that straight up said he wanted to spoil him. This could be the start of something beautiful. Sure, Tao may not feel anything other than lust for him and his money... But, what was wrong with that if they both were aware of that? Besides, Tao’s never had a sugar daddy and he liked the sound of it. 

Kris was the one that broke the kiss. “So, is that a yes?” He asked, causing Tao to let out a rather loud laugh.  
“Hell yes!” He answered as his free hand ran up Kris’s chest to make his point clear. 

\---

Tao absolutely loved the arrangement the two had. There were no emotional strings attached even if they were “exclusive” with each other. They were intimate and Kris would buy Tao whatever his heart desired. “Whatever you want, baby” was a common thing for Tao to hear from Kris. It was a dream come true. Not only did he have a handsome rich man wrapped around his finger, but Kris was also the one that was in control of the city. How sexy was that?

But, after a couple of years of this.. It was extremely difficult to deny that there were feelings between the two of them. He was so proud to be Kris’s and Kris needed him, even if he wouldn’t say that out loud. 

There was an evening where Kris was distracted, even as the two were laying back in Kris’s bed before calling it a night. 

“Alright, Kris.. What’s going on?” Tao finally asked as his fingers ran along Kris’s bare chest.  
“I’m just tired, babe.” Kris’s voice vibrated in his chest and Tao gave him an expectant look.  
“Of?” He finally asked, considering that he knew Kris wasn’t _just_ tired.

There was a long silence from Kris before he let out a heavy breath. “People.” He answered the question with a weary voice.  
“What about them?” Tao was trying to get to the root of this issue.  
“Just.. All the time people are trying to test me and I have to be on guard.. Ah, nevermind. This is stupid crybaby shit.. I knew what I was signing up for when I took this all on.” Kris muttered as he rubbed his face and Tao couldn’t help but to feel his heart go out to him. 

His hand reached out to cup Kris’s face to get his attention. “Everyone is going to try to get to you. Feed off their envy and let that motivate you if anything. Because all of this is yours. Not to mention you have a good and loyal family to back you.” Tao said as he looked up at Kris in the dim light, one of his legs curling around Kris’s even more. Unfortunately he couldn’t say things would be okay. In this lifestyle that was the biggest lie someone could say. But, he still wanted to help ease Kris. 

The hand of Tao’s that previously was resting on Kris’s face was now running itself through his hair as they both laid there in the comfortable silence between them. The man soon pulled Tao up and into a kiss. It was slow and gentle, a more comfortable pace their their usual passion. But, Tao enjoyed it all the same. Once Kris broke it he let out a somewhat nervous chuckle. “Ah, I think I need you in my life.” Tao couldn’t help but to let out a happy giggle at this.

“I know you do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took forever to make and it isn't even that long. Hahaha... Whoops.
> 
> I blame XCOM: War of the Chosen for distracting me.


	11. The Lover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/151410050@N07/37073316921/in/dateposted-public/)   
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I link to a few YouTube videos in this chapter, which you only need to see the first performance in each one if you decide to watch them ( _I highly recommend you do, omg_ ). I promise they're clean. Well, as clean as the Artificial Love performance. So, I mean, don't be scared to watch them! But, I also wouldn't watch them if your grandmother is in the room. *shrugs* 
> 
> You do you, fam.

Sehun was born into a low income family, but that never bothered him. Sure, like many kids he would get envious of other kids when they received fancier toys than what he could have. But, it still wasn’t really a problem for Sehun as he entertained himself by playing outside most days, trying to get stray cats to play or something or another. 

One day he met a boy that lived down the street from him. He was quick to introduce himself to the quiet boy whose name was Jongin. He was determined to be Jongin’s friend and when he heard his mother’s whistle later that evening for supper he said his goodbyes and ran home to tell his mother all about the boy with the “prettiest skin he’s ever seen.” Later on Jongin asked why Sehun wanted to be his friend and Sehun did answer him honestly, shrugging and saying he liked his skin color. Jongin looked at him as if he said a dumb joke, so he might’ve not believed him, but it was the truth. 

Jongin and him became as close as brothers, spending most of their waking hours together. Which, Sehun began to truly appreciate that when a few kids at school began to target Sehun for the fact he was never shy about his lack of interest in girls. At first the bullying was simply verbal, but eventually it turned physical. He’d always fight back, but he was a scrawny kid who truly didn’t pack much of a punch. 

Jongin broke a lot of noses when they were children. But, the bullies would still corner Sehun when he was alone in bathrooms or if Jongin was suspended. Unfortunately Sehun became good at taking a beating, learning how to shrug it off and act as if nothing happened. 

He’d never forget the first time he saw Jongin break someone’s arm. That was the day the bullies finally became wary when it came to messing with Sehun. A few more times of that and everyone stopped messing with Sehun for once. He knew he should be afraid of Jongin and what he could do since he often witnessed him breaking bones with an almost bored expression on his face. But, he couldn’t be scared of him. Especially when this was the same kid that got far too excited over a bucket of chicken and puppies, as much as he tried to hide said excitement. 

The only time Jongin ever really intimidated Sehun was in regards to dancing. Sehun took up the hobby when he was young, working his ass off as he practiced on his own and taught himself how to do so since his family couldn’t afford lessons. Jongin knew about this and decided to join him whenever Sehun danced. Jongin was a natural at it. He always managed to make things look effortless and Sehun thought he’d never be as good as him, despite Jongin reassuring him. So, Sehun worked himself harder as they got older.

The time to really prove himself and his skills came when he moved out of his family’s apartment and in with Jongin. He needed a job and truthfully he wanted a good paying job, so he looked up strip clubs online and was determined to get hired at the best one in the city. He knew Jongin was a hired gunman on the streets, why couldn’t Sehun do this? He loved dancing and lacked any modesty anyways. Why not?

So, one evening when the strip bar was having a “rookie night” where people could try their hand at performing, and if they were good enough they’d get a job offer, he went to the bar. He made sure he looked good. He was careful with his blonde hair to not put too much product in it so it could move around freely and not look stiff at all and he wore a loose fitting black shirt, black pants, and a white leather jacket. 

When he got to the bar he was so jittery, he’s never even been in a place like this before. But, he got the attention of a female dancer who was walking on the floor to ask her about the rookie night. She made sure he was signed up for it and she was really accommodating all around. “So, um.. Do you have any pointers?” He asked, drawing a soft laugh from the woman. She grabbed Sehun’s shoulders and turned him around and pointed to a corner of the large room. There was an extremely handsome man that was sitting in a sectioned off area alone. He was scanning the room, watching the place like a hawk.

“That is the owner of the place, Luhan. You’ll want to impress him kiddo. But, fair warning, it’s kind of hard to do that since he likes to only bring on either really skilled people or those who have a lot of potential.” She told him and Sehun thanked her a few times for the tip. “Oh, and you only have sixty seconds on the stage when the music starts.” She added before walking away. 

As Sehun waited for his turn to dance he watched others dance and he also watched Luhan closely. He hardly even regarded anyone on the stage. But, even Sehun thought he could spot a problem with most of the tryouts. They were too eager to rip off shirts and expose skin. Which, sure the crowd enjoyed, but there was no build up to that, no reason for the crowd to feel like it was a payoff. 

Or maybe he was completely wrong and was going to fail miserably.

Far too quickly it was his turn. 

Shakily Sehun was telling the DJ what song to play and what part to play it at before he was led to the center stage. Oh, this was daunting as he finally stepped on the stage and regarded the pole for what felt like the first time, even if he wasn’t planning on using it much. He heard a few whistles from the already rowdy crowd, which led him to flashing the crowd a bit of a wink as he made a show of pulling off his jacket to toss it to the side of the stage, earning him a few cheers.

He glanced over at Luhan, who was giving him a pointed look that made Sehun want to shrink away. He was probably taking up too much time already. So, finally he glanced over to where the DJ was at and gave him a nod. He took a few precious seconds to “feel” the music before he even started. But, when [he began](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcEquhtw9Eg) to move, he immediately felt everyone’s eyes on him. This dance was a far cry from how many performed. But, this is what happens when he let Jongin help him with the choreography for this, it ended up looking like something that would probably do real well in a ballet studio. 

A quick glance over at Luhan showed that he was pouring himself some kind of drink into his highball glass, not looking too invested in Sehun’s performance, but he was still glancing up from his drink to Sehun. He was curious, but not invested. Well, that meant Sehun needed to hook him in with the next move. Since he was facing Luhan more than the larger part of the crowd, since he knew who he needed to impress, he knew he had a good shot of hooking him in, so long as Luhan was looking at him.

So, when he got on the ground and slid towards the pole it ended up between his legs ( _the entire time he was internally screaming to himself to be mindful of how hard he slid towards the pole since he came close to injuring himself in the most embarrassing way_ ). His back was towards Luhan and he saw the almost hungry look in everyone’s eyes. Then came the kicker. He laid on his back as he lifted his hips up, so his broad shoulders were pressed flat against the stage while his body arched upwards. This earned him enough “encouragements” from the crowd alone, but he still wasn’t done with this. He leaned his head back so his eyes could find Luhan. They immediately locked with Luhan’s for a split second. But, in that split second Sehun could see Luhan lean forward in his seat. 

He was hooked. 

So, once Sehun rolled over, unhooking a leg from around the pole still keeping mind of being careful, he made eye contact with Luhan again. He wanted to make it obvious to the man who he was dancing for. 

When he eventually stood up Sehun was able to take a breath due to the song as he once more met Luhan’s eyes. His expression didn’t give anything away, but neither did Sehun’s. Then it was back to dancing. After a few more movements he lifted his shirt up to expose his flat belly and immediately cheers began to cut through the crowd. Later in the dance he did it a second time while giving Luhan a side eye and there were more cheers from the crowd that were all on the edge of their seats.

About fifty seconds in Sehun really began to have fun with the song, now feeling comfortable with all the eyes on him. So, he threw in a hip thrust, which earned him even more excited yells and hollers. He couldn’t help but to have a grin on his face as he finished out his routine and the music cut. Everyone was clapping and cheering for him and he gave the crowd, and Luhan, a deep bow in thanks as he went to collect his jacket and leave the stage. 

He wasn't sure if he'd be told if he did well or not. But, the fact he wasn’t being approached immediately made his heart sink into his stomach. Did he fail to impress Luhan? _Great._ Awkwardly he walked through the people, who were complimenting him all the while, as he walked to the other side of the room, really aimlessly wandering. He didn’t want to leave. But, what else could he do?

When he glanced at where Luhan was previously sitting, but he was no longer anywhere to be found. So, with a sigh Sehun was started over towards the bar, hopeful he could at least get a free drink out of this. 

That’s when the woman he spoke with earlier picked him out of the crowd. “Hey, you did great, honey!” She complimented him and he gave her a genuinely grateful smile.  
“Thank you.” He breathed more than spoke, as he finally let out a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding.  
“You got the owner’s attention, as well as everyone else’s. He wants to speak with you.” The dancer started to speak with a more serious voice, but it slowly became more like a singsong voice.  
“Wait. What?” Sehun blinked several times before the curly haired woman grabbed his arm to pull him through the building since he seemed a bit too shocked to function. He was led through a guarded door and into a hallway that seemed to be a “backstage” as there were many other performers walking to and from areas. There was another security guard standing by one door, the exact door Sehun was being led to. The door was opened to a rather average looking office area and Luhan was sitting inside the room at the desk. 

“Thank you, Trina.” Luhan spoke up as he stood up and walked around. With that Trina walked out of the room, shutting the door behind Sehun. “Mr. Oh.” Luhan greeted Sehun and shook his hand firmly. Sehun couldn’t help but to nervously laugh at the formality, causing Luhan to raise a brow as he slightly looked up at Sehun.  
“While I definitely enjoy you calling me that.. I’d prefer Sehun.” He explained with pursed lips so they didn’t turn into a grin. Luhan let out a slight chuckle and shook his head as he walked back around his desk.  
“Well, why don’t you take a seat, Sehun?” Luhan gestured towards a seat in front of his desk and Sehun anxiously took it, twiddling his thumbs in his lap. “Alright, let me get right to business.. You were great on that stage. You didn’t even need to strip off anything to have the the audience on the edge of their seat.” Luhan praised Sehun who was grinning as he looked down at his lap. He was always a sucker for praise, but he figured most people were.

After a moment he looked up at Luhan with the same grin on his face. “You included.” He wasn’t asking. He saw Luhan sitting on the edge of his seat. His bold behavior made Luhan chuckle once again.  
“Yes, me included.” Luhan agreed with a soft sigh, and Sehun took that as his cue to be quiet and listen now. “I’m willing to offer you a job, Sehun. But, there’s more to it. I.. I like information, I trade secrets for money. So, everyone that works here is good at listening and getting information out of people to pass that information to me.” Luhan was rather open with Sehun, which drew him out of his thoughts of wanting to see how soft that brown hair of his was. But, now he was thrown into confusion.  
“Um. Like a spy kind of thing?” Sehun never felt more like a child before in his life. Granted, he was _just_ eighteen years old. Luhan smiled and nodded his head.  
“You’d be correct. But, I don’t pick sides. I simply sell to the highest bidder.” He explained a little bit more and Sehun let out a deep breath as he nodded to at least indicate he heard him. “You do not have to take the job that I’m offering here, Sehun. Sure, I pay those who are talented in this ‘career path’ very well, but it is a lot more risky than your average stripping job.” 

Sehun took in a deep breath as he let this information simmer. Really he only wanted to be a dancer, not have to worry about all this cloak and dagger stuff. But.. It was an interesting prospect. Maybe he didn’t worry about the risks because he was already at risk simply living with Jongin. What would be one more risk? Especially if it paid well and allowed a handsome man to sign his checks..

“Can I be honest since you’re being honest?” Sehun idly spoke up in the middle of his thoughts  
“Please do.”  
“I want this job. But, I have no idea where to begin when it comes to.. ‘Gathering information.’ I ah-.. I will probably need a few pointers or..” Luhan let out an amused sound and it caused Sehun to stop talking.  
“I’m sure the others can give you pointers, but this is trial by fire. I do not like wasting time and money on those that simply do not have the talent for this work. So.. If you do not fit the mold, I’ll have to let you go.” 

Okay. No pressure or anything.

Sehun must’ve been quiet for too long because Luhan was giving him an expectant look. “I’m in. I can do this.” His tone was completely different from the unsure one he used earlier. This made Luhan grin. It was then that Sehun decided he wanted to see more of that grin.  
“There’s a smart boy.”

\------

Working for Luhan was demanding, but he did grant much needed leeway at first. Not only did Sehun have to perform but he essentially was expected to meet a quota. Apparently the quota disappears after you’ve proven yourself since all Luhan cares about then is quality over quantity. But, Sehun was forced to impress him once again.

It was a struggle, truly. At the end of the day what Sehun did was enough for Luhan to keep him, but not enough to impress him. Sure, he’s heard impressing Luhan was near impossible. But, he was determined to do it. Everytime he swore he got close Luhan would give him some praise and send him on his way. Sehun ate his praise up, but he wanted more from Luhan. Respect, sure. But, he wanted his attention. 

So, he decided to do potentially risky and very stupid. 

Right under Luhan’s nose he began to dig up information on him. He was terrified of doing so, sure. But he would curiously inquire among the dancers general information about Luhan. When asked he wouldn’t hide the fact he was interested in Luhan. It wasn’t a lie, so it was never met with suspicion. Many of the dancers would laugh and give them little stories that they knew or heard, but typically there wasn’t much to go off of. But, after some time he was pointed to Jongdae.

He knew Jongdae, but there was no reason for the two to sit down and have a chat. Jongdae apparently ran with Luhan even as kids, or so the stories go. Of course there were never any details about what that entailed. But.. Sehun was convinced he could pull it out of Jongdae.

The night Jongdae decided to hang around at the bar was the night Sehun got to put on quite the show. He was dancing with a young woman that was a dancer as well. Pairs dancing always made a lot more than they typically did, namely because the audience got to have twice the amount of attractive people showing skin on stage. Plus, they always put on a damn good show. Sehun found it that most of the women came to him first when they needed a male partner to dance with, namely due to the fact he was not sexually interested in them at all. So, it helped them be a lot more comfortable on stage. 

After spending several hours in overtime to prepare the dance the two were standing backstage, waiting to go put on a show. Sehun no longer got jitters before a performance. No, he _loved_ the feeling of being on stage and the center of attention. Preferably Luhan’s attention.. 

“You ready?” Sehun asked his colleague with a considerate look, always careful to make sure his dancing partner was going to be comfortable with their performance. She let out a slight giggle as she unbuttoned his maroon shirt completely, already revealing the black tank top underneath.  
“Honey, I’ve been working here much longer than you. I’m ready.” Sehun loved the company of most of his coworkers, sure there were a few bad apples, but people who worked here needed to be good with people. It made it easy to get along with them. 

When they walked out the music was already playing and they quickly moved to their “positions”, as if this were some formal performance. But, the two still freely moved around, getting a feel for the music before their choreographed dance actually began. Well, and the pair shared some flirtatious looks with each other. That was enough to get a few whistles from the crowd. 

When the pair actually started to [dance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlB6gDWy16A) the hollers started, despite it still being pretty tame. All it was at first was them moving in synch with each other to the music. But, the excited yells got more eager when Sehun looked back at his coworker with his bottom lip trapped between his teeth as they both dropped it down. He may not be attracted to women, but oh he could make it look like they were exactly what he wanted. He proved this once again when the part of the choreography came when he was standing slightly to the side and behind his coworker and as she continued to move to the music and focus on that, his eyes locked onto her like a predator finding its prey. He moved to dance behind her, grabbing her arm to bring her hand behind his neck and then pulled it down so her hand was running down his neck to his chest before he let it go, pulling away from her so their bodies were no longer flushed together. She wore a large grin as he kept his focused look before he spun her around to face him, their hips dropping low once again. 

As the pair did this the woman’s hands worked quickly to rid Sehun of the maroon button up shirt, leaving him in his black tank top and his black pants. This got the crowd really excited, but so did them staying low on the floor. Yet when Sehun moved in closer with what looked like terrible intentions written on his face, she held a hand up between them and waved him off, suddenly looking uninterested. It was then that Sehun smirked, looking amused more than insulted, as he stood up and held his hand out for her to take. When he pulled her up, he also pulled her up against his body as they spun together on the stage. 

The pair gave a finishing pose where his coworker leaned back in his arms to flash an attractive grin at the audience while Sehun leaned in, as if he was planning on kissing her neck, but he stopped only a few inches away and held that as the applause ripped through the audience. 

Well, looks like their warm up went well.

\---

When their performance ended the pair went backstage and were getting cleaned up and ready to work the floor. Sehun opted to wear the black pants he wore from earlier and the maroon button up as well, although the buttons were all undone, exposing his chest and flat belly to everyone. But, hey, he needed to make it clear he worked here. It was then when he found Jongdae sitting at the bar. Well, it seems like Jongdae found him because when Sehun looked over, Jongdae was already looking at him with a catlike grin on his face.

“Hey, you certainly know how to put on a show.” The man greeted him and Sehun let out a warm laugh in response. The two never officially met, but they both knew they each worked for Luhan and that was it.  
“Hm. Maybe you can join me next time?” Sehun offered with a quick raise of an eyebrow when he took the seat next to Jongdae at the bar, both of them sitting with their back to the bar.  
“As tempting as that is, I’m afraid you’ll leave me in the dust on stage. I’m not as wild and as beautiful as you are.” Jongdae laughed as he gave a quick glance to Sehun’s exposed skin. 

Wasn’t he the cutest?

If Sehun’s desires weren’t so strongly placed elsewhere he might’ve even whole heartedly bit down on the bait Jongdae was offering. He was an attractive man and Sehun was known to be a sucker for the playful ones. Well, if all else fails he’d have to keep this one in mind.

“Jongdae is it?” Sehun asked, full well knowing it indeed was. Jongdae rolled his eyes and immediately scoffed.  
“Oh, come on, Sehun. Don’t play dumb. It doesn’t suit you.” Jongdae responded quickly and Sehun’s eyes momentarily narrowed.  
“Buy me a drink then.” 

That caught Jongdae’s attention and he shook his head as he looked away, his tongue dragging across the front of his teeth. “Damn, you’re already getting expensive.”  
“Don’t act like you don’t have the money, or the want.” Sehun was going to milk this for as long as he could. Plus it was Jongdae’s fault for telling him to not play dumb. Jongdae turned to face him as he wetted his lips in absent thought. With a dramatic sigh he turned around in his seat to grab the bartender’s attention as he asked Sehun what he wanted. Sehun told him with a smug smirk on his face. 

Once he got his drink he took a few sips before acting like he was making casual conversation. “So, how long have you known Luhan?” If Jongdae knew he was digging for information he didn’t give it away.  
“Ah, we’ve known each other since we were kids.”  
“Really? Wow. Has he always been so.. _Professional?_ ” Sehun asked making it sound like he was asking if he was uptight and just as expected Jongdae laughed at the question as Sehun continued to enjoy his drink.  
“You have no idea!” He responded with a surprisingly cute giggle before shaking his head some. “But, hey. He didn’t have the easiest life. So you can’t blame the guy.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah, neither of us did.”  
“Are you playing the sympathy card on me, Jongdae?” Sehun asked Jongdae with a growing smirk and Jongdae let out another handsome laugh.  
“Ah, is it working? But, honestly both of us were actually street rats. So…” Jongdae shrugged, leaving Sehun to finish his drink to hide the surprise on his face. “It’s working isn’t it?” Jongdae beamed at Sehun and Sehun found himself shaking his head with an amused grin on his face.

“If you stick around until I get off of work, I’ll let you know if the sympathy card worked or not.” Sehun said as he stood up, knowing he’d get in trouble if he loitered around for too long (not to mention he wasn’t actually supposed to drink on the job).  
“Promise?”  
“Easy there, Fido.” Sehun replied with another bright smile. Jongdae seemed to be good at pulling those out of him. But, truth was he was good at making anyone smile. The expectant look Jongdae was giving him did make him look like a stray puppy…

_Why not?_

“Stick around, Jongdae.” With that, Sehun left to finish out his job for the night. 

\---

By the end of Sehun’s work night it was very early in the morning, the sun would be creeping up over the horizon in only a few hours. When he finally got to be able to check his phone he saw that Jongin, who now was going by Kai, texted him.

 _Kai:_  
_I probably won’t be home until the afternoon. Work._

_Sehun:_  
_Be safe._

_Kai:_  
_Yes, mother._

Well, this was a nice little development. If Sehun didn’t go home immediately then he wouldn’t have to bother telling Kai. Which, that’d be nice only because he’d never hear the end of it since he “whined” about Luhan all the time now.

Sehun typically never walked back out onto the floor of the club once he was done with his job, he usually left out the back. But, he was curious to see if Jongdae was still lurking around. Sure enough, there he was still at the bar with that catlike grin on his face. 

“Wow, you stuck around.” Sehun hummed as he approached Jongdae.  
“I’m good at doing what I’m told I guess.” Jongdae shrugged as he stood up from his seat.  
“Really now?” Sehun asked with a bit of a smirk appearing on his lips.  
“When it benefits me, sure.” Jongdae tacked on, drawing a laugh from Sehun. Jongdae gestured towards the door and Sehun seemed to grow a tad bit more serious as he looked around the bar for a moment, but he nodded before silently walking with Jongdae to the door.

Once they were outside it was time to talk about what was really going on and the agenda they both had. “Jongdae, um. I’m not interested in something serious, just so you know up front.” Sehun said as he somewhat anxiously looked over at the other man when they got to the parking lot.  
“Casual is cool by me. But, are you comfortable with this?” Jongdae asked, seemingly picking up on Sehun’s hesitation.  
“Oh, yeah. I was just nervous to tell you that.” Sehun assured him with a wave and so Jongdae shrugged once again.  
“Ah, I see. Well, let me know if that changes.”  
“Can do, mother.” Sehun instinctively responded since Jongdae was starting to remind him of Kai. If that kept up he would have to call things off. Jongdae was quiet for a surprising amount of time as they walked over to his car. In fact he was quiet the entire way there. 

Once the pair were both seated and buckled Jongdae finally spoke up. “Please don’t call me mother. It’s weird that someone I’m taking home said that.” Jongdae sheepishly admitted, actually looking quite flustered. It was a cute look for him.  
“Would you prefer something else? Like-”  
“Nothing good can come from whatever is about to come out of your mouth, Sehun.” Jongdae cut him off with a laugh as he started the car and left the parking lot.

The drive was quiet for the most part, but that didn’t bother Sehun. It was a comfortable silence and Sehun was focused more on knowing where they were at in the city as they drove. They pulled off the main roads and into a pretty nice middle class part of the city. Sehun didn’t often go to this side of the city, actually he never came here. It was a relaxing breath of fresh air compared to the quite frankly sketchy neighborhood he lived in.

They got to an apartment building and rode the elevator up to the floor Jongdae lived on. It was then that Sehun got curious and sick of the silence. “So, are all street rats this handsome? I mean, the only two I know are you and Luhan apparently.” Sehun prodded, still looking for more information on Luhan.  
“Nope. You’re pretty lucky you got stuck with me.” Jongdae said once they stepped out of the elevator. So, he didn’t deny Luhan was a “street rat” as well.  
“What are you? Aladdin?” Sehun mused with a joking tone.  
“I can show you the world~” Jongdae sang in a surprisingly beautiful voice as he unlocked his apartment door and gestured for Sehun to enter. When he did he couldn’t help but to hum the tune to “It’s a Small World After All” as he entered Jongdae’s nice home. Jongdae stood at the door, dumbstruck for a few moments before he entered his own home and shut the door. “I have never been so disrespected. In my own home! But, I’ll let you get away with it because it was a really good one.” Jongdae started out sounding serious enough that Sehun almost flinched at the mistake he might’ve made. But, then Jongdae grinned and held the same playful tone Sehun was getting used to, causing Sehun to relax. So, it was then that Sehun took off the maroon shirt and draped it over the back of the couch, leaving him in his black pants and black tank top as he turned to Jongdae with a raised eyebrow. 

With that the two eagerly both made their way to Jongdae’s bedroom, almost tripping over each other. 

\-----

Sometime after the sun was up Sehun was finally dragging himself out of Jongdae’s bed. He was exhausted and only wanted to go sleep in his own bed at this point. “Do you want to use my shower?” Jongdae politely offered, but Sehun waved him off.  
“If I do I’m going to steal your hair products.” Sehun admitted rather dryly, earning him a laugh from Jongdae.  
“What?”  
“Your hair is soft. I’ll steal your hair products, man.”  
“You could see what I use and buy it for yourself?”  
“Nah. I’m too tired for that.”

He didn’t realize Jongdae was watching him like a hawk as he wandered around Jongdae’s room collecting his clothes. Once he found his pants he was quick to try and slip them on, almost too quick since he damn near fell on his hindquarters putting them on.

He only knew Jongdae was watching him when he heard him laugh. “Oh, Luhan is going to enjoy you once you finally sink your claws into him.” Jongdae’s words made Sehun freeze as he slowly turned around to face Jongdae, who was propped up against the headboard with his arms crossed behind his head. He wore that grin like he typically did. Sehun cursed how good he looked right now.  
“How-?”  
“Oh, Sehun.. I’ve been in this game a whole lot longer than you have. You’re good at not giving yourself away. But, I could see the spark in your eyes when you brought up Luhan not to mention you looked to see if he was around before we left the bar so he wouldn’t see us together.. Didn’t you?” Jongdae asked with a quick eyebrow wiggle.  
“And you waited until now to say something?”  
“What? Does this change how you feel about what we did?”

Sehun let out a groan as he bent over to grab his tank top off of the ground and slip it on. “This was just casual, Jongdae. No strings attached.”  
“So, that’s a no?”  
“No.”

There was a long silence between the two and Sehun was close to saying his goodbyes and awkwardly leaving. That was until Jongdae reached over to the nightstand to grab his phone. “I’ll get you an Lyft back home. While we wait on that..” Jongdae was looking at his phone with a growing smirk and Sehun groaned once again.  
“Jongdae, I’m too tired.”  
“If you’d listen to me you’d know I was going to offer to tell you what I know about Luhan. Which is quite a bit. It’s the least I can do for a friend.” Jongdae was quick to respond, but did not look up off of the phone.  
“Mm.” Sehun was exhausted, but he walked back over to Jongdae’s bed and quite literally fell onto it face first and began to listen to everything Jongdae told him. 

Eventually Sehun got back to his apartment and he was quick to knock out and sleep well past the time Kai actually got back home. 

\-----

Two weeks passed and Sehun was simply sitting on the information he got from Jongdae, unsure how to present it to Luhan. Then he got a rather devious idea which led to him dragging Kai to the bookstore with him simply since he didn’t want to go alone. But, hey, it worked out for Kai in the end since he got to go on a date the following night. _About time._

The next time he went into work he waited until he was off and about to leave when he went looking for Luhan, book in hand. He wasn’t in his own personal VIP corner, so Sehun assumed he was in his office. He was so nervous that he was shaking. He knew that Luhan could easily snap if a line was crossed. Sehun was going to definitely test that line, if not cross it. He was ignored by the security next to Luhan’s office door since he worked there as he knocked on it. Once he heard Luhan’s voice tell him to enter, he did so and shut the door behind him.

“Ah, Sehun. How can I help you?” Luhan said, only glancing up from his desk to see who it was before he looked back down.  
“I come bearing gifts. Or well, one gift.” Sehun said with a meek smile, still a little nervous. But, no turning back now. This was when Luhan looked up at Sehun, a confused expression on his face. But, he stood up from his desk and met Sehun in front of it.  
“A book?” It was obvious Luhan was terribly confused about this.  
“I know you like information.”

Luhan let out such a handsome laugh, taking the book with one hand as the other reached up to tap under Sehun’s chin. “Ah, you’re such a sweet thing, aren’t you?” He asked and Sehun almost melted right then and there. But, he knew Luhan knew how to motivate and encourage Sehun, which was through praise. So, similar words and soft touches were common for Sehun when he did a good job, which was pretty often if Sehun said so himself. 

But, here came the difficult, and potentially dangerous, part.

When Luhan looked down at the book in his hands Sehun spoke up. “It’s about a kid who grew up on the streets before becoming a very successful businessman.” Immediately Luhan’s gaze returned to Sehun and oh, it was such a different expression. His eyes were narrowed, eyebrows were furrowed, and his nose was flaring. 

It was a warning.

“Today you may kill those that interfere with your work.. But, your first kill, technically, was when you were ten. It was the middle of winter and you stole medicine from an older boy who often stole from you. He needed that medicine during the winter. He died on those streets.” Sehun told Luhan one of his secrets. Of course, he kept out the fact that it was because Jongdae was sick and going to die without that medicine. It’d be too obvious who told him then. 

Luhan calmly sat the book down on the desk behind him as he leaned against it, still staring at Sehun the entire time. Sehun wanted to cave under that gaze, but he couldn’t. “Where’d you get that?”  
“A good spy never betrays the source of their information.” Sehun couldn’t help the almost smug smile that appeared when he spoke. He was asking for trouble, but damnit he had a point to prove.

This was the moment that Luhan grabbed Sehun’s shirt collar and brought him down those two inches so they were eye to eye and only inches from Luhan’s face. Sehun tried to keep a calm and collected expression, and he did. But, he swallowed. This was the closest he’s gotten to Luhan and boy, was it distracting. “I’m going to warn you only this once. You slip up again and the consequences will be severe. Got it?” Sehun got a chill down his spine from Luhan’s low and almost quiet voice, but he immediately nodded. “Good. Do not dig into my past.” 

Sehun nodded in agreement with what Luhan said. But, it was already too late for a warning. He already knew everything Jongdae did, or so Jongdae said anyways. Either way, Luhan let go of his collar. “Go home, Sehun.” With that Sehun gave a him a slight nod before turning on his heels to leave. 

Once he got to the door Luhan spoke up again. “Oh, and Sehun?” Sehun turned before he opened the door. “As much as I do not want to admit it. You did very well. Consider your quota lifted.” It was then that a grin broke out onto Sehun’s face. His risk paid off. Yes! This was it. He impressed Luhan for a second time! “Don’t look too happy about it.” Luhan said as a hint of a smirk tugged at the corner of one of his lips. So, with that Sehun left.

\------

While he might’ve gained Luhan’s respect, Sehun still did not get what he wanted; Luhan. So, he threw himself into work, determined to be the best damn spy Luhan has ever seen. As well as this Sehun was surprised that he found a friend in Jongdae. When he said there were no strings attached to the one evening, or well morning, they shared together, it’s been left at that. Jongdae still would playfully flirt. But, it was only fun. Not to mention that Jongdae was constantly rooting for Sehun when it came to gaining Luhan’s affections. It was an interesting friendship. But, it worked. 

It probably was as strange as living with an assassin. 

Sehun worked for Luhan for a year and he was getting so restless. Luhan was constantly praising him and telling him how much of a good spy he was. But, the man never flirted back when Sehun flirted with him. He never took the bait and Sehun was growing incredibly frustrated as time passed. So.. He made another devious plan that he was sure would get Luhan’s attention.

The next time Sehun worked until closing he stayed late, after everyone left. He knew Luhan would be in his office and sometimes performers did stay late to practice. But, they always told Luhan about it first. Sehun did not. So, he knew that Luhan would hear the music and come out to see what idiot was still around. It’d only be them there. It was the best plan he could come up with at the moment to get Luhan truly alone, and then proceed to try and seduce the man. Oh, and he was ready for it. He decided to wear a mesh shirt with tight black pants and holy hell, did he look sexy. 

So, he started up the music at the DJ’s booth and then darted over to the stage and clambered up on it. The music played for a little bit and Sehun closed his eyes as he waited for the part of the song he was dancing to. He didn’t have to wait too long. When his eyes opened he found Luhan walking on the floor from around the back to come and stand in front of the stage. It looked like he was about to ask Sehun what the hell he was doing. But, before he could Sehun began to move, certain that Luhan was not prepared for probably the most [sensual dance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oeOHLGh-i0) he’s ever created himself. 

While Sehun moved he occasionally looked to meet Luhan’s eyes, making it obvious that this show was for him. And Sehun could put on a show for him, he was determined to prove that. Unfortunately, throughout the “slower” part of this song Luhan gave no outward reaction to Sehun’s dance. No matter how many smirks and lip bites Sehun threw Luhan’s way when he danced. But, the man wasn’t showing any signs of annoyance either. So, that was a good thing. Yet, there was something that changed in Luhan’s posture when Sehun ran a hand down from his head to his torso, making sure to run his fingers down his bottom lip as he did so. He couldn’t figure it out in the few brief seconds he took to look at Luhan. So, he continued his dance. 

Soon Sehun was on the floor and sliding towards the edge of the stage, closer towards Luhan. However, when Sehun stopped close to the edge of the stage and turned to the side, he still looked over at Luhan to hold his gaze. That was it. That was the moment he saw Luhan swallow. It was then that Sehun looked ahead of him and away from Luhan so that an ill timed smirk did not appear on his face. 

Once he was back on his feet he went back to occasionally throwing glances at Luhan, even when he lifted his mesh shirt to give a perfect view of his flat belly. It was then that he finally allowed himself to smirk. But, it was only for a moment before he was moving again. It wasn’t much longer before he was back on the floor again, this time not looking at Luhan. 

When Sehun finished he kneeled there on the stage with his head down while he caught his breath, not moving for about ten seconds. Then he heard the clapping. So, with that he finally stood and cooly walked to exit the stage and went to the DJ’s booth to turn off the music. He grabbed his black coat that he left at the DJ’s booth, but didn’t put it on because he still wanted to be exposed to Luhan. And as if Luhan was not there he went to walk past him and for the exit.

Luhan’s hand reached out and grabbed his arm before he could completely pass him. _Yes.._ Sehun turned with a raised eyebrow. “You did well.” Luhan said, but he seemed to struggle to get those words out.  
“I can put on a show.” Sehun reminded him with a carefully neutral expression. Luhan’s hand still did not let go of his arm. _Come on, damnit! Make a move!_ He could see Luhan gritting his teeth. _Oh, to hell with this._ If Luhan was going to hesitate, Sehun wouldn’t. “That dance was for you.” He told Luhan as he completely turned to face him. Luhan wetted his lips but did not say anything. So, Sehun began to make it completely obvious. 

His hand went to Luhan’s hand that was on his arm and pulled it off of him, Luhan didn’t put up any resistance. But, when Sehun let go his other hand came up to grab Luhan’s, interlocking their fingers as his lips pursed together. “I have been flirting with you for a _year_ and I haven’t gotten anything out of you.” Sehun’s voice was soft as he completely avoided Luhan’s gaze, which was locked on him completely. “If you don’t want me. Tell me now and get it over with. But, if you do..” Sehun drifted off, not sure what to tell Luhan to do. All he know is that he wanted Luhan to want him. 

There was a silent moment that felt like forever before Luhan gave Sehun’s hand a squeeze and gently pulled Sehun closer with his other hand. “I want you. I just don’t think this would be healthy for either of us..” Luhan looked like he was trying to suppress some anger when he told Sehun this. It worried Sehun.  
“Are you abusive..?” Sehun boldly asked what came to mind and Luhan’s eyes widened.  
“No. But, you work for me and people could use you to get to me..”  
“Oh, shut the hell up then.” 

It was then that Sehun pressed himself against Luhan and pressed his lips against Luhan’s. The man was surprised and his free hand grabbed Sehun’s other arm, as if he was about to pull him off. But, he did no such thing. Sehun was so slow in the way he kissed Luhan, careful really. But, then Luhan took the lead from him and Sehun all too quickly gave it up, allowing him to deepen the kiss as he continued to hold onto one of Luhan’s hands as his other hand went to slowly cup Luhan’s cheek and Luhan let go of his arm in the process.

Slowly Luhan began to grow comfortable in the kiss. It felt like forever for Sehun. But, the moment he felt a hesitant hand run up from his stomach to his chest, only the mesh shirt being truly in between his skin and Luhan’s hand. It was still enough for him to feel some skin on skin contact and it felt like Sehun was getting set on fire. 

Sehun was the one to break the kiss, already needing to catch his breath. 

Both of them took a long break to simply breathe. But, soon one of Luhan’s hands went to cup Sehun’s chin. “What do you want from this?”  
“You.” Sehun’s answer was quick and Luhan shook his head in response.  
“No, Sehun. Get specific with me. What do you want from this? I need you to spell things out for me.” Sehun groaned in impatient irritation.  
“I want you. I don’t care how. I just want to be yours.”  
“Not causal then.”  
“No..” Sehun sounded like a child at that point. He was getting distressed from this conversation. He was afraid Luhan was going to call every possibility between them off. He actually felt like he was getting close to tears now.

He was so close, but he was going to lose it all.

“Come here.” Luhan breathed as he pulled the dancer close and into his arms. “Don’t get upset.” He sounded like a parental figure now and Sehun wasn’t sure how much he appreciated that. There was only a four year difference between them, but Luhan was making that age gap seem massive. “Listen. I.. I have a dangerous job. So, if anyone really asks, we’re friends with benefits and that is all. That my condition for doing _anything_ with you. I can’t have someone getting hurt because they’re close to me.” 

Sehun solemnly nodded, but he was okay with this. He only cared about being with Luhan. It’s all he’s wanted for an entire year now. “Can we.. Can we just go?” Sehun asked, wanting to leave the club and get somewhere more private.  
“Sure, I can either take you home.. Or if you want you can come to my apartment."  
“Your apartment.” Sehun quickly jumped on that offer as put his coat on to hide his almost nude torso while they headed to the parking lot.

During the silent drive Sehun decided to pull out his phone and text Kai. 

_Sehun:_  
_I’m not going to go back to the apartment after work._

_Kai:_  
_Make safe choices._

The rest of the drive was Sehun focusing in on Luhan’s face and the way streetlights would illuminate Luhan’s tan skin as they drove past them. Sehun was practically sitting sideways in his seat, his back halfway leaning on the passenger door and one of his legs curled up as much as it could in the seat, but this left his knee sticking out over the console and slightly into Luhan’s space. Much to his surprise and pleasure Luhan placed a hand on Sehun’s knee, simply resting it there as he drove. But, he never looked over at Sehun. So, one of Sehun’s hands went to rest on top of Luhan’s, enjoying the simple touch.

Once they finally arrived at Luhan’s apartment in a really nice neighborhood, Sehun finally let out a breath he did not know he was holding in. 

“Make yourself at home.” Luhan said and if it were anyone else, Sehun would’ve said he intended to do just that. But, things were different with Luhan. He did not want to be as much of a smart ass towards him. 

Luhan went to mess with the thermostat, but Sehun proceeded to slowly take his coat off, hoping to recreate that mood he established while he was dancing. When Luhan turned around he was throwing his shoulders back and more so letting the coat slide off of him. Luhan, the master spy, still did not give anything away, but he did approach Sehun. His hands went to his hips as his fingers began to play with the hem of his shirt. “How many times have I seen you strip?”

“Hell if I know at this point.” Sehun shrugged as he tossed the jacket onto a chair in the living area. It was then that Luhan slowly started to pull Sehun’s mesh shirt up. Oh, it was torturously slow.  
“Ever since you surprised me.. Made me actually _see you_ , the day you told me one of my own secrets..” Luhan barely lifted Sehun’s shirt to his sternum at this point. Sehun was getting impatient, yet he did not want to rush this all the same. “I’ve wanted to do this to you myself.” 

With that Luhan pulled the mesh shirt over Sehun’s head and tossed it to the side before his lips connected with Sehun’s. But, Sehun didn’t let it last for long. “Then why didn’t you?” He asked, only a hair away from Luhan’s lips as his hands began to run up Luhan’s chest to start working on the top button of his shirt. Luhan’s response was simple. He practically growled as he reconnected their lips and grabbed Sehun’s hands, stopping them. So, Sehun whined into the kiss, finding his own way to pout. But, Luhan did not let go of his hands. Only when Sehun momentarily broke the kiss to mutter a breathless “please” did Luhan let go of his hands so that he could unbutton Luhan’s shirt and work on getting it off of him. 

Once the pair was shirtless Luhan began to lead Sehun towards his bedroom. Sehun was practically seeing stars already. He certainly didn’t mind Luhan leading everything and taking control from him. He actually loved that about Luhan.

The remainder of the night was a long one. But, Sehun found it blissful all the same. It was as if he was riding a constant high, he did not feel tired at all. Not until the pair laid curled up in each other’s arms. Luhan must’ve sensed Sehun’s hesitation to give in to sleep. But, he slowly shushed him to sleep. 

He woke up to the sound of running water. Apparently there was a bathroom attached to Luhan’ bedroom, which Sehun didn’t even notice the other door before now considering the fact he was preoccupied. Upon realizing Luhan was probably in the shower Sehun decided to press his luck and join him. Besides, he did need a shower as well.. 

\------

A few times a week Sehun found himself staying over at Luhan’s for the remainder of the night. This went on for a few weeks. The other dancers at the club began to all notice that Sehun was Luhan’s favorite. While he did not treat Sehun special while he was working, he would watch him when he performed rather than keeping an eye on the club. 

That’s how he did not noticed the problem at the door until a dancer came to get him.

Sehun glanced over once he saw Luhan leave his private area while he was in the middle of his dance. When he got the chance he glanced over to see Jongdae along with two security guards at the door. He couldn’t really see the figures past them, but they were tall. He saw Jongdae point past them at the door and then the tallest of them stepped into Jongdae’s personal space, which made Jongdae seem terribly short. But.. Who was next to the tall bastard..?

_Shit, shit, shit._

The second the dance was over Sehun jumped off the stage and ran over to the door. He couldn’t hear the words, but he heard Luhan’s raised voiced. It sent chills down his spine. There was a low voice that was responding to Luhan, but Sehun was too busy weaving throughout the crowd to try and see who was speaking.

“You have three seconds to get the hell out. _Do not test me._ ” Luhan was speaking and Sehun saw another tall man step forward to get into Luhan’s space. But, he also saw a familiar face move towards Luhan. 

“Hey! Wait!” Sehun yelled out as he tried to catch everyone’s attention. And _oh, boy_ did it work. The two tall men turned their attention to him and immediately bristled even more as all their aggression turned to him.

“ _Sehun??_ ” Kai’s surprise relaxed Sehun as he quickly moved to stand next to Kai. If he could make it clear he was friends with Kai, then surely both sides would settle enough for there to be a conversation. But, to make the point that he was friendly with Kai he did give him a hug.  
“ _Don’t let them kill me._ ” Sehun whispered in his ear. If this was the family Kai was apart of, Sehun did not want to be on their bad side.

“Ah, look. I don’t know what’s happening here..” Sehun said as he pulled away from Kai and moved to stand between the two groups. Luhan’s eyes were locked on him, unsure of where he was going with this. But, the two taller men who were intimidating the hell out of Sehun were also watching him closely. “But, please. Let’s not spill any blood. Luhan, I know your rules. No mafiosos here. But, this one is Kai, my roommate. _Please_ give him a chance if no one else.” Sehun was desperate to avoid bloodshed, but the problem was he did not know what was happening. So, he really didn’t know how to defuse the situation. 

“Wait. _This is Lu??_ ” Kai asked as he blinked a few times, finally connecting the dots that Luhan was the Lu that Sehun kept rambling about. He didn’t get a response from Sehun, but for a brief moment Luhan looked amused. “Listen, Kris here only wants to make Luhan an offer.”

Sehun looked at the man next to Kai, the tallest man and the one Kai was gesturing to. Even next to him Sehun felt small and it even made him swallow. Lord, he was intimidating. Made sense then if he was a kingpin. Either way, Sehun looked away from him and back at Luhan. 

“Your men stay here. But, you can come with me to my office to discuss this proposition of yours.” Luhan stated with a calm voice, if he was intimidated he did not show it one bit. But, the other tall man looked over at Kris with a scowl that made Sehun's blood run cold.  
“You can’t go by yourself. Kris, that’s-”  
“ _Chanyeol._ ” Like that the other one shut up, but so did everyone else. “I’ll go. But, Kai here will come with me and you could have this boy here come as well seeing as they're friends I doubt either would want this to turn into a fight. Fair?” Kris tried to compromise with Luhan and Luhan looked over at Sehun before he looked over at Kai, considering it. But, after a long moment he nodded before leading the three to his office. Leaving Chanyeol to glare down at Jongdae, while the shorter wore quite the smug smile.

Once the door to Luhan’s office was shut and locked behind them Luhan went to sit in his desk chair while Kris sat across from him. Kai and Sehun hung back at the door to give the two some kind of “privacy.” But, they both could still hear every word that was said.

The two spoke for about two full hours. 

Kris offered Luhan to be his spymaster and laid out the deal as much as he could, how it’d work and how it’d benefit Luhan and his people. The two argued a little bit at first, namely because Luhan still did not see Kris in a good light simply because he was the head of a mafia. But, eventually they came to start working out how they could work together and they went over every detail with a fine tooth comb, both compromising at times. 

Then the two stood up and shook hands. 

Two weeks later Luhan moved into the mansion and Sehun and Kai moved out of their shit apartment when Luhan asked Sehun to move into the mansion with him. 

The spy work got more difficult, as Sehun occasionally was sent into dangerous places and situations. But, he was a good spy, so things typically worked out. Not to mention he and Jongdae managed to make fast friends with Baekhyun and Tao. It seemed that it was then that Kai embraced the family as his own family as well and joined their circle of friends. 

\---

Sehun still loved working at the bar. He only missed a day of work when he was sick, but that was rare. 

One night a very handsome man asked him for a private dance and Sehun took the offer once he presented the cash. This was typically the best time to pull secrets out of someone. But, Sehun didn’t know this man would end up being pandora’s box.

By the time the private dance was over the handsome man, Dean, was asking for more. “Let me see some money then.” Sehun reminded him with a light laugh. But, Dean let out a soft sigh.  
“I don’t have anymore, other than a few ones. However… I’ll make a trade with you.” Dean said and Sehun somehow resisted the urge to roll his eyes.  
“What could you possibly have to barter?”  
“Information.”

Okay, Sehun was intrigued now, all things considered.

“Information first, then we will see.” Sehun gave him a pointed look, and Dean smiled up at him from his chair. He patted his lap and Sehun raised a brow.  
“Come here then.”  
“You do realize if you try anything you will actually get shot, right?” Sehun asked with arms crossed across his bare chest.  
“Of course.” 

So, against his better judgement, he walked over to Dean and settled himself in his lap, draping his long legs over the arm of the plush armchair while he leaned back against the other arm. Then he gave Dean an expectant look, but Dean first fished in his own pockets. He pulled out the wad of ones and straightened them out before tucking them into Sehun’s waistband. 

“For your troubles.” Dean purred with a bright smile and Sehun once more resisted the urge to roll his eyes. But, finally Dean began to tell him the little secret he had. Sehun’s eyes widened as he spoke. He didn’t even realize that Dean was drawing circles on his bare chest with his index finger, which was very much against the rules. 

He also did not realize how silent and spaced out he was after Dean finished talking. Dean was grinning up at him, watching him process everything as he still lightly drew those circles on his chest. “How’s that? Do you think I can get a little encore?” Dean’s voice snapped Sehun out of it. Well, that and his other hand that squeezed his thigh. When did Dean’s hand even end up there? 

Sehun swallowed and blinked a few times, trying to regain his composure before nodding. He needed to get this over with so he could ask Luhan to take the rest of the night off and rush back to the mansion.

Sehun did exactly that once he finished out his time with Dean. 

Luhan seemed concerned when Sehun said he wasn’t feeling well, but he let let him go. It was probably easy to believe Sehun since he has gone pale. The second Sehun was out of the building he called Kai until he answered his phone. It took a few calls. But, Kai eventually, albeit angrily, answered his phone. 

Later once Sehun was at the mansion he was meeting Kai in Luhan’s bedroom. It was then that he told Kai everything. The entire plot to end Kyungsoo’s life. When asked if he told Luhan Sehun shook his head. “Are you going to tell him?” Sehun hesitated and clenched his jaw, but silently he shook his head once again.

As much as he cared about Luhan and did not want to have any secrets kept from him, Kai was his family. So, he kept this to himself, even as Kai stormed out of the room. Sehun knew Kai was going to commit a murder tonight, but he would not interfere or rat him out. 

He’d take this to his grave.

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/151410050@N07/38645470575/in/dateposted-public/)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, look. I _swear_ I did not intend for SeChen to happen. But, to be fair, I have a history of shipping my biases with my bias wreckers and Sehun is my ultimate bias and Jongdae is absolutely ruining my life right now. SO, apparently that seeped into my work.
> 
>  
> 
> **WHOOPS.**
> 
>  
> 
> ~~Sorry, not sorry.~~


	12. The Outlier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/151410050@N07/37073315621/in/dateposted-public/)  
> 

There wasn’t much to be said about Yixing’s childhood. But, it was a happy one. Yixing’s only family were his parents and he grew up knowing what it was like to be loved. His family was middle class and so he still went to public school. He was always the top of his class despite not always being the “quickest” one, or even the one with the most common sense. But, he was a promising student and a quick study. If he wasn’t a natural at a subject he was able to throw himself into the subject and study it until he knew it. 

Yixing had a promising future in front of him.

Although, when he was sixteen tragedy struck. He was at school when the principal called him into his office. Yixing was told that his parents both were in a car wreck. He would never forget the look on the older man’s face when he asked if they were okay. But, unfortunately his mother died on impact and his father was in surgery. 

He was taken to the hospital after school by his biology teacher who pitied the fact that he did not have anyone else. 

Yixing was only at the hospital for an hour before a surgeon came out to the waiting room to speak with him. That was when he was told his father died on the operating table and that regardless of their attempts, he was gone. 

In one afternoon everything was taken from Yixing. Suddenly he found himself orphaned at sixteen. The government was quick to move in to make arrangements for him and after his parents’ funeral he was placed into the foster system. He’d remain in the system for two whole years. No one wanted to adopt a sixteen year old boy. 

It was then that he decided that he was going to become a surgeon. He was going to be able to save those that others couldn’t. 

So, naturally when he could he began to start going to school to be exactly that when he was out of high school. He was easily able to get scholarships considering his situation and his grades. But, unfortunately three years into his classes the money stopped coming in. So, he was forced to drop out.

Yixing wasn’t exactly sure when it happened, but after he was out of class he started going by Lay. It was easier to try and forget his past that way. At least, that’s what he fooled himself into thinking.

So, here Lay was.. Working two jobs just to stay afloat. He deluded himself into thinking that one day he’d get to go back and actually become a surgeon. But, the chances of that ever happening were very slim. 

\---

One night Lay was walking home from his night job. It was so late and he really wanted to get some much needed sleep before he was going to have to show up for his day job. He was constantly exhausted. 

He heard some kind of mewling sound come from the alleyway that he was growing close to. For a moment Lay was convinced it was a cat that must’ve gotten hurt. But, the second he stepped to the mouth of the alleyway he saw the bright light and heard the deafening sound of a gun going off. With wide eyes he registered the fact that he just watched a man get shot in the head right in front of him. It was then that he realized he should probably run. But, it was already too late. The man behind the gun was now pointing the pistol directly at him. 

_I’m sorry you got mixed up in this._

“No, wait!” Lay cried out as he raised his hands above his head, slowly taking steps backwards. “I’m forgetful, I swear! I won’t remember this, I-. You can let me go!” 

There was silence from the other man who was stepping out of the shadows towards Lay. 

Lay was so transfixed on him that he did not realize he stepped back into the street. Not until the car hit him.

He went over the car, feeling the crushing impact of it as it almost knocked him out of his shoes. Then, he was on the road, laying on his back with his eyes shut due to the pain and disbelief of what just happened. He couldn’t catch a good breath. His breaths were shallow and it hurt just to breathe, let alone anything else. 

Lay opened his tear filled eyes to look up at the street lights. The terrible pain in his side suggested broken ribs, and odds were his lung was punctured. Funny, he was going to drown in the middle of a street.

_I’m going to die here. Cold and alone._

Lay’s eyes shut, finding that even that movement hurt him. He did not want to die. But, he could accept this fate. Maybe he could find some kind of peace in his mind and settle on that while he waited for the end. 

The fear of dying alone kept that from happening and panic ripped through him, despite his attempts to calm himself. This left him whimpering in the street as tears streamed down his face.

“ _Hey, hey. Easy now. Help is on its way._ ” A voice spoke before he felt hands on him. His eyes opened as relief washed over him. His vision was blurry, but he could just make out the handsome man leaning over him. “What’s your name?” He asked, trying to keep Lay awake most likely.

“Lay..” His raspy voice responded as he tried to focus on the man through tears and sweat. “What’s your..?” He couldn’t finish his sentence. It hurt too bad. He wasn’t sure if it was the pain that was making time funny, but the man seemed to take forever before answering him.  
“Junmyeon.” Lay gave him a slight nod, still trying to be polite even in this situation. But, one of his hands went to a hand that was on his shoulder. Bravely, his fingers wrapped around it. The stranger, Junmyeon, actually removed his hand from Lay’s shoulder only to take his hand and hold it. That was nice of him. 

Dying with a handsome man next to you wasn’t so bad, was it?

That was the last conscious thought Lay had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp. This is it for Humble Beginnings. Apologies that the last chapter is a short one.
> 
> Once again Sheep Among Wolves will be back. I have some college homework and other projects to attend to before I jump back on this. And the next work will be in the style of a oneshot so, it'll just be one big post rather than chapters. Sooo.. I have no idea when I'll add to this series. Hopefully I won't leave anyone waiting _too_ long. =]


End file.
